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A COMPLETE SYSTEM 

OF 

BRAIN TESTS 


TO DETERMINE THE PLACE OF 
EVERY HUMAN BEING IN THE 
SCALE OF 

CIVILIZATION 


POST-GRADUATE COURSE 

of the 

RALSTON HEALTH CLUB 



PUBLISHED BY 

RALSTON HEALTH CLUB 

Hopewell, New Jersey 






y\HfcA 


Copyright, 1924 
BY 

THE RALSTON COMPANY 
All Rights Reserved 


MANUFACTURED IN THE U. S. A. 


HAY 20 '24 

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' © Cl A 7 9 2 517 ^ 


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Stratum 

To the old friends of the past fifty years who 
love to search after new truths, and to those 
coming friends who will add their numbers to 
our great family of fellow students, this study 
of life in all its myriad phases, plans and pur¬ 
poses, is affectionately dedicated . 

By the 

Balston Health Club 


















PUBLISHERS’ ANNOUNCEMENT 


The title of this training system is “BRAIN TESTS /’ 

It is the Post-Graduate Course of the Ralston Health Club. 

As it has never been advertised in any other connection than 
as such advanced course, the presumption is that every owner 
of this system possesses the book of that Club. 

The PRICES of the two systems are as follows: 

The Complete Life Building Method of the Ralston Health 
Club is the most recent and most valuable work ever issued by 
that organization; and its regular price is two dollars. 

The present work of “BRAIN TESTS ’’ is for sale at ten 
dollars per copy. 

Orders for either work may be sent to Ralston Company, 
Hopewell, New Jersey. 


“BRAIN TESTS” should be made a part of every school and 
college training; for it surpasses in importance the whole fabric 
of knowledge taught by the greatest universities. As a book of 
reading it is easily worth more than its price. As a guiding 
system in life, it cannot be replaced by instruction costing 
thousands of dollars. Its cost cannot be reckoned by its mechan¬ 
ical value alone; as, in addition to that which is expensive, it 
represents forty years of labor involving investigation of over 
one hundred thousand facts and incidents, and a vast amount 
of auxiliary help from countless sources. 

These Tests involve a method of thinking and studying that 
is wholly new and original. They do not reflect any line of 
instruction or training that has ever been given to the world 
in the past, nor are they allied to any work of any kind that has 
hitherto been published; although from necessity they are ap¬ 
plied to the whole world of human activities that make up the 
experiences that are called civilization, and this application 

5 




6 


Publishers’ Announcement 


compels a review of life itself. It is refreshing to find some¬ 
thing new, that is at the same time of superlative value. 

We live in an age when there is the feeling that changes of tre¬ 
mendous importance are impending. This feeling need not be 
based on the sentiment of the heart, or the predictions of certain 
religious bodies, or the teaching of psychology, but on the opera¬ 
tions of the brain cleared of the cobwebs of old school reasoning. 

The author first proceeds to give the intellects of his readers a 
thorough dusting, to dear away these cobwebs. He sets a 
standard that must be reached before the brain has been made 
as clear as the crystal brook that runs to the sea; and to those 
who succeed in reaching this standard he shows new knowledge 
in such power that no doubt remains of the value of the training. 

This plan is logical. 

Unprepared soil cannot produce fruits that are the best. To 
prepare the brain of readers and students for receiving the seed 
of the new trees of life and knowledge is the most necessary, and 
as it proves, the most beneficial process that could be devised. 
This clearing of the brain is done in the TESTS. 

These TESTS alone furnish in themselves a new world of 
thought, investigation and training that has incomparable value 
in perfecting those mental powers that give pleasure to the 
student and enrich the intellect. 

A notable departure from the usual plan of preparing books 
of study is found in the adoption of terms and language that 
will be readily understood by every person who is able to read 
a daily paper intelligently. Most studies are made tiresome 
by the use of technical words that are understood by professional 
readers but that have little or no meaning to the ordinary mind. 
Good sense and intelligence are as often found among those who 
lack literary training as among the cultured. The successful 
people of the world belong in large proportion to the non¬ 
literary class; not from choice but from the drift of events in 
life. It is to them, as well as to all others, that this work will 
come in pleasing style, shorn of tedious and tiresome verbiage, 
and weighted with a wealth of facts that will prove charming 
and even fascinating. 


FIRST GRAND DIVISION 


BRAIN TESTS 


TO DETERMINE THE PLACE 
OF EVERY HUMAN BEING 
IN THE SCALE OF 

CIVILIZATION 










































































































*# 








•V '5 

















THINKING FACULTIES 

EFORE we enter upon the great work that lies 
ahead, it is wise to examine the tools that we are 
to use. When you have a problem to solve, you 
use tools with which to work upon the solution. 
These tools are the thinking faculties. You 
ought to be thankful that you can think, and 
that you have something to think with. The faculties that do this 
work are located in an organ called the brain. The tree cannot 
think, but has intelligence, or it could not build its new growth 
of leaves in the spring and lay them down at its feet in the fall. 
The dog thinks, as do all forms of animal life. If you hurt the 
tree when it leans against your house, it does not know that you 
have punished it. If you hurt the dog for an offence, he knows, 
and thinks of that hurt when next he is about to repeat the 
offence. The difference is that the tree cannot think and the dog 
can; the tree has no brain; the dog has this thinking organ. 

That blow which fell on the dog was an event, a bit of experi¬ 
ence. His power of thinking is limited to the number of experi¬ 
ences of all kinds that have befallen him. He thinks of nothing 
ahead, except that instinct drives him to seek his food and 
shelter. In this respect Nature does the thinking for him. In 
the case of man, she thinks only through his impulses and sheer 
necessities; otherwise his power of thinking is measured solely by 
the accumulation of what he has read, been told and come in con¬ 
tact with through the events that are called experience. 

9 




























10 


Brain Tests 


BIRTH OF REASON 

Names need have no value except as means of identifying 
facts. As employed in this study the following names have 
the meanings attached to them: 

Experiences are the various processes of developing the hu¬ 
man being from the blankness of infancy to the maturity of life. 

Knowledge is the accumulation of experiences that are stored 
away in the brain. 

Intelligence is the use of knowledge. 

Reason is the explanation of the course pursued by intelli¬ 
gence. 

Memory is the act of connecting experiences with thought. 

Thought is the present operation of the brain reviewing the 
past, or considering the future. No person is able to think of 
the present or the future without reviewing the past. 

The Brain is the storehouse of experiences and therefore of 
knowledge. 

Thinking, while performed by the brain, is directed and 
wholly controlled by the triple lining, or three membranes, sur¬ 
rounding the brain. 

The character of the thinking and the whole fabric of the 
mental powers are no better and no worse than the physical 
condition of these triple membranes. What they are, the mind 
thinks. What they suffer in injury, the mind suffers. Here 
are a few illustrations of these facts given at this time in order 
to show to the reader the importance of studying this phase 
of life: 

1. When congestion from the stomach reaches these mem¬ 
branes, irritation follows, often attended by profanity. 

2. When alcohol taken in the stomach inflames the blood and 
the blood inflames this triple lining of the brain, thought is 
erratic, silliness of speech often results, and the inebriate does 
things that are unmanly and even unpardonable at times. 

3. Anger sends venous or poisonous blood to these membranes, 
and the irate man is beside himself and loses control of his men¬ 
tal balance. 

4. Typhoid delirium inflames these membranes that surround 
the brain causing the patient to take life, as has been too often 
the case. 


Thinking Faculties 11 

5. In the milder malady known as the grippe, these mem¬ 
branes are slightly swollen, and the brain and head seem to be 
floating in the air; or else the objects in the room assume a 
floating and enlarging condition. 

6. These membranes are normal when they are supplied with 
pure blood based on wholesome foods; but science has demon¬ 
strated that the continued use of abnormal foods or an unfit 
diet will poison this triple lining of the brain to such an ex¬ 
tent that insanity will follow. In fact there are classified cases 
of mental breakdown that have been proved beyond a doubt 
to be due wholly to the use of improper foods which poison the 
blood and attack the brain powers through these membranes. 
These instances are merely enlarged forms of the same results 
that attend the use of alcohol. Viewed in the light of these 
facts there is nothing strange in the assertion that insanity 
will result from continued abuse of this organ through the 
stomach. 

7. Some persons are born with a slight intrusion of part of 
the skull bone against some part of the brain, with the result 
that criminal tendencies attend such persons all through life; 
and freedom from such tendencies has been obtained in many 
cases by operations that remove the intruding bone; or in some 
instances where there is only bone pressure. Criminals have 
been made good citizens by such operations. The pressure of 
the bone or its intrusion is against the membranes, forcing them 
against the brain. 

&. Poison from an infected tooth, entering the circulation 
of the blood, has been found in a large number of cases to 
cause forms of insanity by irritating the membranes, and 
through them the brain itself. Criminal tendencies in children 
and young folks has been traced to such cause, and cured by 
operations. Recent experiments and discoveries along this line 
have given a vast amount of new knowledge on this subject of 
the influence of the membranes over the moral and criminal 
nature of human beings. 

It must not be supposed that the brain itself is not the most 
important agency in the activities of existence; but it holds 
the same relation to existence that the motor vehicle does to its 
accomplishments; the responsible and controlling power being 
the driver at the wheel. 


12 


Brain Tests 


THE STORY OF THE WONDERFUL MEMBRANES 

It is right that we should investigate that part of life that 
directs its activities and that determines what place is occupied 
by every man and woman in the scale of civilization. And here 
we find ourselves studying the wonderful membranes that sur¬ 
round the organ of thought. 

This book is written in a vocabulary that can be understood 
by every person who is able to read a newspaper. Intelligent 
and sensible people are found in the ranks of the so-called 
humbly educated classes; they are not able to grasp the mean¬ 
ing of technical terms. Yet it is possible to please and instruct 
even presidents and professors of great universities in the same 
simple language that can be readily understood by the non¬ 
literary classes. 

Let us illustrate what we mean. 

A scientific man will tell you that the three membranes re¬ 
ferred to are known by the following names: 

The dura mater is the lining that clings to the skull. The 
word mater means mother. The word dura means hard. The 
two together mean hard mother. Two of these linings were 
called mothers from a fanciful idea that they were the nurses 
of the parts contained in them. 

The pia mater is the lining that clings to the brain itself. 
The word pia means tender in this case. The two together 
mean tender mother. It is the most vascular membrane in the 
whole body, which means that it is the most active mass of blood 
vessels, and contains more such vessels for its area than any 
other part of the body. 

One more word from the man of science. He will now speak 
of the arachnoid , which is the middle membrane. It is called 
arachnoid because it resembles a spider’s web. Thus we have 
Latin names for the three membranes, and such names alone 
guide the scientist; but translated into English they are hard 
mother, tender mother, and spider’s web. 

Surely we can afford to lay aside the technical terms that 
cloud the minds of the lay students; and that is what we will 
do in this book. Instead of such terms we will call them what 
they are, the three membranes that surround the thinking organ 
of life. 


Thinking Faculties 13 

Two important facts now must be considered: 

Between these membranes there is a body of fluid that comes 
directly out of the circulation of the blood; and from this fluid 
there run many millions of fine streams through the innermost 
lining, which we have described as the most vascular membrane 
in the whole body; meaning that it has more blood vessels for 
the transmission of blood than any other part in proportion 
to its area. 

When a person thinks, studies, or otherwise uses the brain, 
this fluid flows with great force and activity. While thought 
is the operation of the brain, it cannot occur except by the ac¬ 
tive flowing of the fluid through the membranes as stated. 

1. Thought cannot take place unless this fluid flows through 
the membranes into the brain. 

2. When any part of the membrane is pressed by a bone or 
fragment of bone from the skull, the thinking is defective, and 
may result in crime on the one hand, or loss of some part of a 
faculty on the other hand. 

3. When the blood that furnishes the fluid is impure, or 
diseased, the character of the thought is changed accordingly. 

4. In perfect sleep the fluid referred to ceases wholly to flow. 
This permits the function-section of the brain to carry on the 
work of repairing the body; and it explains why repair takes 
place in the body only when sleep is perfect. Repair re-builds 
nerves, nerve-vitality, tissue, organ structure, blood composition, 
and all parts of the body; none of which can take place when 
the brain fluid is flowing into that organ. Even the brain itself 
depends on cessation from thinking in order to be repaired 
and kept in health. 

5. It has been proved by a vast number of experiments that 
the flow of brain fluid from the membranes into the brain in any 
quantity beyond the normal, interferes with or stops the other 
functions of the body. 

6. In hard thinking the flow of this liquid is excessive; and 
in all cases it keeps exact pace with the degree or severity of 
the thinking. This fact is not new, as it has been known to 
investigators for many years. In every act of thinking the 
membranes throw into the brain a continual stream of mucus 
highly charged with electrical acids; and in this way only is 
thought possible. 


14 


Brain Tests 


7. Whatever disturbs this condition during sleep, will set 
up the act of thinking during slumber, with the result that a 
person dreams; or when the disturbance is violent as after eat¬ 
ing indigestible food, night-mare may follow. Dreams and 
night-mare have been shown in all cases to be caused, not by 
the brain itself, but by the action of the membranes sending 
this stream of mucus into the brain and arousing in that or¬ 
gan the work of thinking; and all the emotions that are touched 
by the fluid are subject to this awakening. 

8. The hallucinations of fever, as in delirium, are due to 
this same flow of mucus which the inflamed membranes rush into 
the organ of thought and feeling. The imaginings of drunken 
men are likewise due to the inflammation that ensues from the 
use of alcohol, affecting the membranes. 

9. Brain fever, and similar forms of disease, cannot be traced 
farther than the membranes; the brain itself seems to remain 
merely the organ under attack from the outside inflammation. 
There are other maladies that involve its own tissue, but they 
are not in this class. 

10. One of the most common epidemics in cities at times is 
that of meningitis; or cerebro-spinal-meningitis, as it is called. 
As its name implies, it relates to the meninges which are the 
membranes that we are discussing. It begins with congestion 
due to a wrong diet, and extends from the spine area to the 
brain area; the technical name of the brain being cerebrum for 
the larger section, and cerebellum for the smaller section. We 
make this explanation to show the origin and meaning of the 
name of this fatal malady. Translated into everyday words, it 
is the disease of the membranes running from the spine to the 
brain; we have included all three parts of the name and have 
not been compelled to resort to technical terms. Yet almost 
every person, no matter how humble in education, knows the 
disease by the common name of cerebro-spinal-meningitis. 

11. The question arises, where shall we look for the seat of 
the mind; and, possibly, for the seat of the immortal soul? 
Shall we look to the brain; or to the membranes ? The brain is 
the storehouse of all that life contains in each human being. 
This much is certain. It is also the machinery of thought, the 
engine that carries on the work. But it is not the engineer. It 
may be compared to the motor-vehicle; of itself it can give only 


Thinking Faculties 15 

the results that the driver commands. Left to itself it is use¬ 
less, perhaps dangerous. Only as long as a competent engineer 
is at the wheel, will it respond intelligently. If the driver is 
sick, or drunk, or reckless, or unfit from any cause, it will pro¬ 
duce results that are erratic and possibly violent. 

12. A diseased membrane driving a normal brain will come 
into disaster and mishap; just as an unfit driver handling a 
perfect motor-vehicle will not be able to make it do proper 
work. On the other hand a normal membrane driving a dis¬ 
eased brain will accomplish no more than the latter can per¬ 
form; just as a perfect driver handling a faulty car will not 
do more than the car itself is able to do. These facts show that 
the brain and the meninges are inter-related; but does not 
lead to a solution of the question, which one is the seat of the 
mind ? Perhaps both hold that honor. Let us see. 

13. When a babe is born, to review well known facts, the 
brain is said to be smooth. It is not a perfectly polished ball, 
for its parts have shapes and sections all ready for being de¬ 
veloped. But from the standpoint of intelligence, it is in fact 
smooth. We need not go into those many forms of proof 
that show certain facts in this connection; they are known to 
all students and to most readers. The outstanding fact is this: 
NOT UNTIL THE BABE BEGINS TO ENCOUNTER EX¬ 
PERIENCES WILL THE MIND BEGIN TO EXIST. 

14. By looking back to the beginning of this section, we find 
that experiences are the various processes of developing the 
human being from the blankness of infancy to the maturity of 
life. Here are the most common experiences that begin to 
cause the mind to come into existence: 

What can be seen. 

What can be heard. 

What can be tasted. 

"What can be smelt. 

What can be touched or felt. 

The many attentions from those in charge of the babe. 

The things that please and the things that displease. 

The changes of view and the diversity of things looked upon 
or heard. 

Playthings and their uses. 

Companions and conflicting interests. 


16 Brain Tests 

Reviews of happenings told or read, as in stories and state¬ 
ments. 

Rewards and disappointments. 

Intercourse and dealings with others, as the child grows. 

15. It has been proved, as is well known, that in proportion 
as these sources of experience are limited or withheld, the brain 
of the child remains blank, or smooth as we have been told. 
Of this there is no doubt. If the infant is kept secluded, as has 
been done, so that it receives the least possible attention to keep 
it alive, its mind will grow up blank; it will be an idiot. And 
on the same principle, partly neglected children become stupid, 
dull, and mentally dwarfed in proportion to the neglect. 

There is no way known to nature to develop the mind 
and brain except by the aid of experiences. In fact, intelli¬ 
gence is based on knowledge, and the latter is nothing more or 
less than the accumulation of experiences that have been stored 
away in the brain. As the brain thus contains all your knowl¬ 
edge, and all that you are as a human being, it must follow that 
all that you are is the sum total of the experiences that you 
have stored away in your brain. The more you think this over, 
the clearer the fact will become to you. As a human being you 
are the sum total of the accumulated experiences of your whole 
life. 

17. Then comes the fact that, as you cannot remember all the 
experiences of your whole life, your being is a limited one, and 
contains only that part of the past experiences that you are able 
to remember. This seems a strange fact on first reading; but is 
easily proved. 

18. All the experiences of the first year of your life have been 
blotted out in most cases; yet there are persons who can recall 
vividly one or more incidents of that era. In the second year 
the instances are more strongly impressed. The writer can re¬ 
call a watch given him on the day he was two years old; riding 
in the steam train over a railroad bridge; and being stung by 
a bee when less than thirty months of age. We have asked 
many of our students to inform us of their early memories. 

19. Yet the fact remains that out of thousands of experiences 
in any one year, hardly a dozen can be recalled in mature life. 
One or two incidents of a year of childhood furnish the limit. 
All the rest have vanished. You dream of something that is 


Thinking Faculties 17 

clear and vivid to you as you review it in the first moment of 
waking; and yet in a few minutes it has so completely melted 
away that not even a shred of the dream can he recalled. The 
experience was not deeply seated in the brain. 

20. It has been proved that persons with abnormal mem¬ 
branes, no matter at what age, are unable to impress the brain 
deeply enough to retain the incidents of daily life. They get 
along fairly well, but have what they choose to term a wretched 
memory. It all depends on the depth of the impressions made 
by the experiences they encounter. These people become dot¬ 
ards and dullards in the first approach of old age. 

21. Nearly all men and women reach that stage in life when 
memory shows unmistakable signs of weakening. A very few 
retain their memories even to an extreme old age. In New York 
City there is a man who, in his prime, was known as one of the 
keenest bankers and financiers in America. He had a palatial 
home, raised a large family, provided well for them, took pride 
in all civic matters, was charitable and philanthropic, advised 
well, used fine judgment in business, and hardly knew what 
defeat was. He was a successful man. The natural processes 
of advancing years caused him to lose his grasp on some of his 
lines of business; he did not remember and make use of in¬ 
formation that he had been accustomed to receive from day to 
day all through a long career; names of his friends slipped from 
him by degrees; and he realized that his memory was not as 
good as formerly. This faculty became so weak that he had 
to give up his business affairs. At length he was unable to 
call his relatives by name, excepting those of his immediate 
family; his son who had been away seemed to him a total 
stranger on his return; and the climax came when he did not 
recognize his wife. Doctors stated that his health, physically, 
was perfect, but that his brain was returning to the smoothness 
of the first days of infancy; a process that was natural in the 
ripening of the body. The indentations made by the experi¬ 
ences that had become his knowledge and the source of his 
mental prowess, were being smoothed out by the daily renewal 
of tissue growth in the brain. His mind became a blank. And 
today this great man sits in his home with no means of recog¬ 
nition of his loved ones, no intelligent contact with life, no 
knowledge of his identity, deprived of all religious instincts 


18 


Brain Tests 


and privileges, unable to worship the divine power, with a com¬ 
plete loss of his real self and nothing worth having in its place. 
If you speak to him, he looks at you with a dead stare that 
frightens you. If you hand him a book or paper, he looks at 
it as the babe would upon a wall of stone. Yet this condition 
is nothing but the vanishing of the faculty of memory, due to 
the smoothing out of the indentations made on the brain by 
the experiences that built up his mind and made him a power 
in the world. And this condition will, in some degree, be your 
fate. 

22. The conclusion is inevitable that the mind and the whole 
life value of a human being is coexistent with the memory; and 
that is the sum total of such experiences of the past as can be 
recalled and used. When the memory is erratic, the person is 
called insane; when it is feeble, he is called dull; when it fades, 
he is a total idiot. A blank mind is certainly not a live one. 
While there is but a small percentage of blank minds, there 
is a large percentage of minds that are partly blank, espe¬ 
cially as age is advancing. Nature seems kind by ending their 
careers before they are too pitiable to be endured. 

23. If you will keep in your mind the fact that what is re¬ 
ferred to as a future life beyond the grave, cannot be such 
life to you, if your identity is lost, no matter if you should in 
reality live again, it must be certain that there is some means 
of carrying your identity from this world into the next, and 
that means must depend primarily on memory. You must be 
able, first of all, to identify yourself there; to know that this 
same self is the one that lived on earth; to recall all your hopes 
and longings; and to know that they are being realized. And 
loved ones must likewise be identified. You must know them 
and they must know you. All this depends on memory. The 
conclusion then is that all that is immortal in a human being 
is contained in either the brain, or the membranes. If in the 
brain, then the vanished memory wipes out hope forever. If in 
the membranes, then we reach the conclusion that they perform 
a higher function than that of merely compelling the brain to 
do its work. Here we have work ahead in this study. 

It will be very pleasing work. 

A brief technical statement of the functions that serve as the 
basis of our progress will be helpful at this place. 


Thinking Faculties 


19 


HOW REASON WAS BORN 

Reason is the explanation of the course pursued by intelli¬ 
gence. 

Intelligence is the use of knowledge. 

Knowledge is the accumulation of experiences that are stored 
away in the brain. We have fully described what is meant by 
experiences. 

Memory is the act of connecting experiences with thought. 

What you are doing now, or are planning to do, you are 
thinking about; and you cannot think about anything in the 
future that is not based on something in the past. Try it and 
see. And there is nothing in the past to think about except 
experiences. The past could not be anything else. 

Every act of the present or every contemplation of a future 
act must be founded on past experiences, or some of them. 
There can be no other guide. Either consciously or uncon¬ 
sciously you will follow the teachings of past experiences in 
every present act, and in every plan for the future. Life would 
be impossible otherwise. You cannot do anything or arrange 
to do anything that is not inseparately associated with the 
past. 

If you have no memory of the past, your mind is a blank, and 
you are merely a useless vegetable. 

Some persons are in this condition. 

It is a familiar saying that experience is a costly teacher. 
It means that you miscalculated, or that you had thrust upon 
you some incidents that were unwelcome, and that led to loss 
or damage, to failure or disappointment. Intelligence makes 
use of knowledge which comes from experience; but if failure 
should now come, reason will tell you that a faulty use was 
made of the knowledge that should have been a guide to the 
present. In the same way if you are making plans for a future 
course of conduct, you will apply reason to the methods to be 
adopted, based wholly upon what you have learned through 
the experiences of the past. As a great statesman once said, 
“I have no guide for the future but the lamp of experience .’’ 

Reason says that such a course is wrong because the light of 
past experience shows that it brought failure then. Reason 
says that such a course is right because the light of past ex- 


20 


Brain Tests 


perience shows that it brought success then. There are millions 
of uses of reason, but they all come down to this basis. 

Life, therefore, consists only in experiences; and the living 
of life is tied inextricably to them. 

Knowledge is based solely on experiences either occurring 
in one’s existence, or described and taught as part of the lives 
of others. 

Intelligence and reason are tied to experiences. 

Memory is nothing but the recognition of past experiences. 

Thought is always an activity of the present, but is based 
solely on experiences; in their absence a person cannot think. 

The absence of experiences results in a blank mind and 
idiocy. 

The inability to recall past experiences results in a blank 
mind and idiocy. One stage is infancy at its inception; the 
other is age when the faculties have ripened. 

The status of the mind is based on the value of the experiences 
of the past, and the ability to recall them in the present. “To 
grasp and to retain.” This is greatness; and when concentrated 
becomes genius. 

INSTRUCTION AND LEARNING 

In order to shorten the struggle to accumulate experiences, 
books have been written for the purpose of collecting the knowl¬ 
edge that has come out of the past and impart it to the ambitious 
students of today. History tells of the battles, failures, defeats 
and victories throughout the ages; of the making and destroying 
of nations and peoples; but if it were to give the reason for the 
fall of nations, it might become a guiding light to those that fol¬ 
low. The reason for success is important; and the reason for 
failure is still more important. Otherwise the experiences of 
former peoples will not help us in our era. 

Every study covers some ground that has been gone over by 
others. The many lines of help in all departments of life that 
are furnished through books would, if lacking, be prized by 
their necessity. The housewife could not learn how to cook 
by her acquired experience, so readily and thoroughly as when 
she has the knowledge of others to guide her nor could the chem¬ 
ist or pharmacist make the compounds that are required in their 


Thinking Faculties 21 

professions, unless they had the forms and directions that have 
been collected in the experiments of others; and this same rule 
holds true all through life. But it is always the law of experi¬ 
ences, some gained by the activities of living, while many are 
transmitted from the lives and knowledge of others. 

There is no such thing as inherited knowledge or intelligence. 
It is true that one brain may possess better quality from a 
more favoring parentage than other brains; the power to grasp 
and to retain means a greater mental world for the individual. 

The instinct sense is not a mental attribute. It originates 
in the small secondary brain, known as the cerebellum, and is 
driven and controlled by the third brain, known as the medulla 
or top section of the spine. These are purely vegetable func¬ 
tions. Every tree or plant possesses them. The new born 
babe, if put to its mother’s breast, will begin to suck at once; 
it needs no prior experience. Hunger fights for food in plant, 
animal or man. The tree breathes air with its lungs which are 
its leaves; it drinks moisture from the earth; it takes in food 
from the same source; and, by the action of its sap, it carries on 
the functions of circulation. All these activities take place by 
instinct or under the guidance of nature. If its roots are in dry 
ground, and there is moisture some distance away, it extends 
its roots until it finds that moisture. This is in the opinion of 
some scientists a kind of intelligence; but it lacks all semblance 
of brain power or thought. In the same way all the natural 
proclivities of humanity are inherited, but are not knowledge. 

Knowledge comes when instinct begins to set up actual 
experiences. 

Thus the savage left to find food for satisfying his hunger, 
will make many mistakes before he selects that which is safe 
to eat; or he will have help from the mistakes of others who 
have gone before him. He may find a thousand things that look 
like food, most of which would be poisons. It is supposed that 
millions have laid down their lives through mistakes made in 
obeying the dictates of instinct while in search of food. In 
our own era of supposed civilization many millions every year 
go to their graves through error in food selection. Less than 
ten percent of the things eaten are food; the rest is poison. 

In the use of foods alone ninety percent of all experiences 
are wrong or faulty. 


22 Brain Tests 

In the use of medicines ninety-eight percent of all experiences 
are wrong or faulty. 

In the treatment of disease in an age when blood-letting, 
lancing, and similar barbarisms were the only known methods 
of cure, one hundred percent of all experiences were wrong. 

In the present day methods of physicking, blistering and 
similar barbarisms, one hundred percent of all experiences are 
wrong. 

We might go on for pages enumerating all the lines of life, 
and find the same results. 

WHY? 

Because intelligence is the highest form of brain development, 
or rather the highest form of the human mind; and intelligence 
is merely the use of knowledge; while knowledge is the accumu¬ 
lation of experiences. 

A stream can rise no higher than its source. 

The source of all experience is human activities. 

When human activities are perfect, then experience, knowl¬ 
edge and intelligence will be perfect. Until then the progeny 
will be like the parentage; human, therefore imperfect. 

What the banker knows he has learned by contact with hu¬ 
man life! and not a whit of his knowledge has come from any 
other source than human life, not even his genius. If he has 
better judgment than his fellows, it has been given him by 
dealing with other bankers and people, not out of heaven. If 
any part of his cleverness is inherited, it was at one time in a 
previous generation based on the contact of an ancester with his 
patrons and competitors. But it is a fact that clever men were 
hard driven at times when very young by childish antagonists, 
and learned how to protect their interests; so the chances are 
that this quality is acquired. 

No phase of human life can be greater than the intelligence 
that controls it. 

No intelligence can be greater than the experiences that cre¬ 
ated it. 

No experiences can be better than the human activities out of 
which they originated. 

Therefore no phase of human life can be greater or better 
than its source: human activities. Wherever there is taint in 
the source, there will be taint in the intelligence, taint in the 


Thinking Faculties 23 

climax of controlling power of institutions. Wherever there 
is defect in the source, there will be defect in the intelligence 
that rules all human institutions. 

This perfectly logical proposition makes it clear why ever 
since the earth began to team with life, Intelligence has been 
leading the race into countless deplorable and wretched condi¬ 
tions, mistakes, errors, failures and abysses of utter hopelessness. 

Experience may be a good teacher in some cases; but even 
then it is no better than its source; for it is only the accumula¬ 
tion of human frailties at its best. A man of experience is said 
to be of more value than a man who lacks experience; but the 
real fact is that the former has had insight into the mistakes 
of experience so that he is able to avoid them or some of them. 
It is an old saying that the man who learns by experience pays 
a big price; showing that this method of training is not free 
from trouble. It is another saying that it is better to learn 
by the experience of others than your own; and that the man 
who can profit by the mistakes of another may be able to avoid 
some of his own. Most men are wise too late in life; they often 
declare that if they were to have their lives to live over again, 
they would know what mistakes to avoid; thus admitting that 
they did not avoid them. 

Just why humanity was left to acquire its knowledge in its 
own way, is hard to determine. It was compelled to learn 
everything by the hard tasks of contact with human activities. 
It had no aid from any other source. If it failed to come into 
sufficient contact with those activities, its brain remained 
smooth, and was defective; idiots resulted. If it had the bad 
fortune to meet activities that hurt, that cheated, that oppressed, 
that took advantage, that drove it into selfishness and sharp 
methods of defense, all these in the youngest years of life, then 
it grew up shrewd, crafty, cruel, ungenerous, domineering and 
often criminal. If it had the good fortune to meet activities that 
were gentle, fair, good tempered, honest, refined and ennobling 
then it grew up in the likeness of those qualities; and every 
age in the history of the world has had some men and women 
of that character. 

But the fact remains that humanity was left to itself in these 
acquisitions. Intelligence was never anything more than the 
sum total of human experience. And as all human experience 


24 


Brain Tests 


is filled with mistakes and sad failures, so intelligence has suf¬ 
fered thereby; but its greatest evil is in the fact that it has 
absolute control over the race and has brought mankind to all 
its sufferings by means of that control. 

The tool of Intelligence is REASON. 

Reason is always the offspring of human activities; and if 
you know of any human activities that are examples of perfec¬ 
tion we should like to see them and list them. If they are not 
perfect they are imperfect; and their offspring, Reason, cannot 
be better than its parents, or its source. Therefore Reason is 
the most frail thing in all the world. It gets much prestige 
from its name; the name sounds great. If a person tells you 
to use Reason, he means use sense, which is never the same. 

Once the world was afflicted with logicians. 

Some of the logicians were natural orators. It has been 
proved that six generations back ninety-five percent of the 
best civilized people were victims of some form of paresis, or 
mental taint, and that this defect has run down into all subse¬ 
quent generations to the present day. The result is a race of 
men who are not able to see anything clearly but see only 
through the views that are forced on them by crafty minds. 

Intelligence satisfies itself by the use of reason. 

Intelligence justifies its errors and false positions by the aid 
of reason. 

And to make the circle complete and the logic absurd, reason 
refers always to the experience of the past, not having the gift 
to know that nothing can be better than its source, that the ex¬ 
perience of the past is nothing more than contact with human 
frailties, and that these frailties are the parents of experience; 
experience is the father of intelligence; and intelligence is the 
consort of reason, whose progeny is now filling the earth with 
bitterness. 

THE BRAIN IS AN UNSAFE GUIDE IN LIFE 

The facts thus far stated have been presented to show the weak¬ 
ness of the organ of thought, even when at its best, and that the 
brain is a very unsafe guide in life. 

Why? 

Because it is merely the storehouse of happenings that have all 
been born of human frailties; and what is sent into the world by 


Thinking Faculties 25 

such parentage cannot be reliable, and certainly never infallible. 

Do you know that it is possible to dissect any line of reason¬ 
ing and prove to be true its opposite conclusions by just as sound 
a method of analysis as that employed in its original presenta¬ 
tion? Take the best one hundred lines of argument that you 
can find on as many subjects, and study the processes of proof 
employed, and if you know how to dissect them, you can lead 
all the facts, claims and arguments along just as sound lines to 
opposite conclusions. 

There is no better mental exercise than this. 

Every day countless people are induced to make decisions in 
their affairs because of some reason given them why they should 
so act. Yet every such reason can be shown to be as unsound 
as it is sound. 

The most common assertion, and one that has caused the ruin 
of millions of people in their financial ventures, is this: 

1 ‘Nothing risked, nothing won.” 

The opposite is just as true, and just as untrue: 

“Nothing risked, nothing lost.” 

The mind that is keen enough to see through these statements 
as through crystal clear glass, finds both of them true, and both 
of them untrue. 

The perfectly sound mind is able to determine when the first 
statement is true and when it is untrue; and when the second 
statement is true and when it is untrue. But Reason has never 
yet reached these happy results; for Reason is based solely on 
experiences which are born of human frailties. It requires a 
faculty vastly superior to that known as Reason to reach the 
truth. 

The preceding pages of the present Section of this book have 
shown the muddy, uncertain, frail and mis-guiding character of 
knowledge, intelligence and reason, based as they are on the 
accumulated experiences of human life; and if we can lead the 
way to a realm of certainty in all matters we shall have done 
the world a service of vast importance. 

Our first position is this: 

No dependence can be placed on the services rendered by 
Reason, for it is always capable of being turned face about 
and made to appear just as strong on one side as on the other 
of every question and problem. 


26 


Brain Tests 


Our second position is as follows: 

In business, in the professions, in courts, in politics, and in 
all phases of daily life, every proposition is as unsound as it 
is sound. 

When your mind is clear enough and keen enough to recog¬ 
nize this fact and why it is a fact, then you are close to the 
highest rank in the scale of civilization. Begin the practice of 
hunting for the soundness and unsoundness of every assertion 
and every reason that is set forth by others. Follow this daily, 
and soon the mind will begin to clear itself of its muddy ves¬ 
ture. The following example is perhaps familiar, but it serves 
to illustrate our meaning: 

A South American Republic ordered a number of locomotives 
from a manufacturing concern in the United States. After 
the lapse of years in which no more locomotives were ordered 
by that country, some competitors cited the fact, and gave as 
a reason that the engines must have failed to do the work 
required of them, or else more would have been ordered. To 
meet this claim the concern that sold them stated that the 
engines were of such high quality and had done their work so 
well that no more were needed. Here are two conclusions de¬ 
duced from the same state of facts. 

A still more familiar example is that of the stuffed bird in 
a barber shop. A customer who was acquainted with the good 
points of stuffing birds, made the statement that the man who 
had done this work was an amateur in his first efforts as a 
taxidermist. Fault after fault was shown, until his proofs 
were absolute, and succeeded in convincing a group of listeners 
of the truth of his claim that the man who had stuffed the bird 
did not know his business. As he reached the climax of his 
reasoning, the bird hopped off its perch and flew across the room. 
One thing alone was lacking, and that was a court room con¬ 
taining judge, jury, lawyers and witnesses, engaged in the 
solemn task of trying the case under the methods of our jury 
system. 

We have listened to thousands of arguments in jury cases, 
and have never yet heard one that was not as unsound as it was 
sound; not one but could have been used for either side. The 
trouble with the losing lawyer is that he is wholly unable to 
dissect the opposing argument, and tries to out-argue it. What 


Thinking Faculties 27 

is most needed is clarity of mind to see the truth at a glance 
and to profit by it. 

The bit of proof that has sent thousands if not millions of 
victims to their death by process of law, is the finding of the 
weapon that was used in committing the murder. Here is the 
typical example of circumstantial evidence that will convince 
any jury today, as it has in the past hundreds of years: The 
man is found slain. Nearby is the weapon; we will say a 
knife; on the handle of this knife are the initials of a certain 
man; in the earth are the prints of shoes that are unmistak¬ 
ably those of the man who owned the knife; and it is proved 
that some weeks.prior to the murder this same man quarreled 
with the victim and threatened him. What more is needed? 
What jury will not convict? Yet the facts are: first, another 
man who desired to get rid of the one who was found slain, was 
possessed of a degree of animal cunning that belongs to all low 
minds; he knew that if he stole the shoes and the knife of 
some man who had quarreled with the victim, that man alone 
would be suspected. Nothing was easier; the circumstances 
diverted all suspicion from the one who was actually guilty; 
and the innocent man was convicted and executed. 

A clear mind would have known just where to look for the 
truth in such a state of facts. A judge of a high court made 
the statement to us that in his opinion, men of cunning brains 
had trapped innocent men by just this kind of trickery, and to 
such an extent that countless thousands had lost their lives 
through the building up of circumstances in such a way that 
all suspicion was diverted from those guilty to those who were 
innocent. In fact there is nothing easier to accomplish. Under 
the law of self-preservation, the man who is about to commit a 
crime deliberately, does not leave about him the evidence of 
his crime in so open a manner as that stated in the example. 
It is as absurd as the claim of the colored gentleman who was 
being tried for stealing chickens; when the prosecution had 
presented its evidence, the judge asked the gentleman referred 
to if he had any witnesses. This inquiry was resented some¬ 
what indignantly with the assertion, “No, judge, when I steal 
chickens I never take witnesses along. ”—Nor does the crafty 
criminal furnish the State with evidences of his guilt in the 
open manner shown in our example. 


28 


Brain Tests 


It seems to us to be the duty of every man and woman to so 
train the mind that error shall be made impossible. 

What faculty would be of greater service than the perfectly 
clear mind that could not be deceived; that could not make 
mistakes; that could not lead one into losses, disappointments 
and disasters, of which there are so many waiting ahead in this 
life to submerge the blindly moving victim? 

A keen banker who had won a high degree of success in the 
years past, took account of stock of his mistakes, and found 
that they mounted into a surprising total. He said that the 
best of minds were faulty; and that the winner in the struggle 
of existence was the man who made the fewest mistakes, not the 
man who made none, as such an individual was impossible. 

A very bright minded merchant was despondent when he 
reached the age of sixty and found that he had accomplished 
nothing more than accumulate a small fortune; enough to main¬ 
tain him and his family for the rest of his existence. He took 
a book of blank pages and began to note down the failures, the 
mistakes, and the shortcomings of all the past years, as far 
back as he could remember. When he had finished, the book 
was full. He gave utterance to the oft spoken wish: “If I 
had my life to live over again, knowing what I know now, what 
a glorious life I could make it!” Some such sentiment has 
been expressed thousands of times, and perhaps millions, by 
men and women who, on coming to the climax of a career, find 
the past crowded with mistakes. 

“If I had my life to live over again, knowing what I know 
now, how much better I could make it! ” 

Some wise philosopher has said: “It seems to be the pur¬ 
pose of Nature to shut off from human vision the power of dis¬ 
cernment until life is filled with mistakes, and then to set up 
useless regrets when it is too late to make amends.” 

This sentiment is so false that it alone should furnish an 
excuse for our present course of study and training, the chief 
purpose of which is to clarify the mind at once and show the 
cause of a lifetime of mistakes and disappointments. If this 
system shall come to you when in your youth, and shall in¬ 
stantly end the making of mistakes through misjudgment or 
inability to dissect experiences and get at the truth, and if it 
shall thereby open up to your vision the full power of discern- 


Thinking Faculties 29 

ment of the way ahead, and make unnecessary the regrets that 
come with old age, then it will have done a service the value of 
which cannot be estimated. 

You may be out of your youth and just entering middle life; 
the mistakes of the past are piled up there, and may be left 
to themselves, as you take up the burden of the future with a 
new success. Whatever regrets that will sadden your old age will 
relate to the era preceding the time when you began to clarify 
your mind; after the end of that era no more errors will darken 
your horizon. But old age may be upon you as these teachings 
come to save you from further regrets. ‘ ‘ If I could have known 
what I know now,” is the refrain of despair. 

We put the inquiry to many thousands of men and women, if 
you had your life to live over again with the light of your present 
knowledge, what would you do? 

An aged lawyer who had not won much fame and little suc¬ 
cess except through tricky methods, said, “I would have started 
my law practice in a wholly different manner. Instead of seek¬ 
ing an immediate income beyond what was required to support 
me, I would have made myself familiar with more knowledge of 
the law, with more of the needed information as to the prepara¬ 
tion of papers, with court practice and procedure, and with 
every kind of equipment necessary for success. I would have 
placed my personal honor on the highest pedestal. I would 
have refused to take cases that were not honest. I would not 
have served clients who were not honorable. I would have 
sought the respect of all worthy lawyers, and all worthy citizens, 
and of the courts. I would have won the good opinion of good 
people; would have been fair to witnesses; clean in all my 
methods; never have given misleading advice to win the favor 
of clients; and would have held my head high among my fel¬ 
low beings. What were my chief mistakes? I sought clients 
by any method that would bring them; gave them advice to 
encourage them to engage in law suits; tried to frighten or 
humiliate witnesses, and to deceive juries by false arguments 
and twisting of testimony; dragged law cases until they be¬ 
came a burden; over-charged all my clients who could be forced 
or frightened into paying exorbitant fees; resorted to legal 
evasions in order to assist clients to defeat the law, as is done 
by all corporation lawyers; and had for my reward the outward 


30 


Brain Tests 


show of respect from the public, covering the inward contempt 
which they felt and which I saw reflected in their faces. If I 
had my life to live over again, knowing what I now know, I 
would reverse my methods and avoid the mistakes that make 
my old age a period of regrets.’’ 

We have all heard the hymn: 

“The mistakes of my life have been many.” 

And the adage, 

“To err is human.” 

And the philosophy, 

“Human life is full of imperfections.” 

In fact the very synonym of human is to be imperfect. These 
conditions are all wrong, for they are the natural fruit of de¬ 
pending on the brain as it is, instead of clearing it for the 
uses for which it has been created. We must look the facts in 
the face, and seek the real causes of these frailties. 

Not until we understand that we have been relying on a very 
defective organ as our master in life will we take steps to 
change the regime and look to a more dependable guide. Let us 
take the brain for what it really is, a storehouse of accumulated 
experiences, all occurring during our existence or acquired as 
a part of our existence, and all of human origin; for there is 
no other source of experiences except in the activities of hu¬ 
manity. Let us reconcile ourselves to the fact that nothing per¬ 
fect can be born of human imperfections. Then will we look to 
some other source for the way to the truth. 

The brain is no more dependable than its contents. 

Its contents are so uncertain that no two persons ever see 
the same occurrence in the same way. 

When two or more witnesses in a trial at law tell the same 
story in all its details, it is certain that the witnesses have been 
coached, or instructed in their testimony. When perfectly 
honest, no witness agrees perfectly with any other witness. The 
experiments that have been made along this line are now quite 
numerous. Colleges, universities, medical investigators, alien¬ 
ists and other experts have entered upon such experiments for 
the purpose of securing a more intimate knowledge of the un¬ 
certainties of the brain action. We will refer to a few of them: 

1. In a certain university where a class of thirty students 
were assembled, without notice to them a man entered the room, 


Thinking Faculties 31 

ran around among the class, discharged a revolver, and made 
his exit at the door. After he had gone, the instructor asked 
each student at once to render a report in writing of what 
occurred. Of course, they were excited; but so are persons who 
become witnesses of any event of a sudden and startling char¬ 
acter. They had the same basis of observation that people have 
as a rule who later come into court to testify. Thirty reports 
were made in writing, and no two of them agreed. One stated 
that ten shots were fired; another that only one was fired; an¬ 
other that none was fired; another that the man made his exit 
by the window; another by the door he entered at; another by a 
door that led into a closet; and so on. There was no doubt of 
the honesty of every student. 

2. In an eastern university a similar test was planned but 
with the advance announcement that an experiment was to be 
made for the purpose of testing the accuracy of the human 
brain to perceive and record matters. All the students were 
asked to remain cool, and to observe closely. A man entered 
the class room, approached the first student he met and shook 
his hand, passed to the next and slapped him on the shoulder, 
pushed the third from his seat, took a book and rapped the 
fourth on the top of the head with it, knocked a book out of 
the hands of the fifth, and jumped over a chair, stood up in 
another and waved a handkerchief, rushed hard against an¬ 
other, and went out of the room. A written report was re¬ 
quested at once from each student, to ascertain how many could 
recall all the occurrences, and in their order of happening. No 
two reports agreed. When read aloud, one at a time, they were 
met with protests and denials from some of the students. In 
fact each witness was ready to take oath, as in court, of the 
accuracy of his own report. One student insisted that the 
man shook hands with not less than a dozen of the class; an¬ 
other said that he knocked down a row of students like so many 
cards, one falling against the other to the end. 

3. A somewhat notable case came to trial in court where seven 
clergymen attending a convention witnessed an accident nearby, 
and undertook to tell the jury what had occurred. No one 
doubted the sincerity of the ministers, although no two of them 
saw the thing in the same way. The result was that the party 
at fault was cleared; a miscarriage of justice. Judges, juries 


32 


Brain Tests 


and lawyers are not yet civilized enough to know that the 
more a group of witnesses differ in their testimony, the more 
honest they are; and if honest evidence is wanted, it must be 
accepted with its divergencies, or justice can never be secured. 
Many a client comes out of the courtroom dazed at the failure 
of the law to deal rightly with him. He knows that he is en¬ 
titled to a favorable decision, but he does not get it, and he 
can hardly see where the fault lies. 

The organ of thought makes use of human experiences born 
of human frailties. This brain is a very defective tool of life. 
It errs a hundred times for each instance when it is accurate. 
Yet it is employed to carry on the process of living, and to 
guide all the transactions of existence. 

It is time that something better be adopted in its place; and 
this system of study and training is being put before the world 
to teach the remedy; to show how to reach the truth; and to 
furnish a safe guide at all times for men and women in tneir 
countless activities. 

Enough has been said to impress on your mind the fact that 
the brain that is smooth and a blank before it is stimulated into 
development by the action of experiences in infancy, and that 
again becomes smooth and a blank in old age when the faculties 
fail and memory is lost, is not a safe and reliable guide to 
steer the course of a man or woman through the struggles of 
the intervening years when mental acumen, good judgment and 
correct decisions are necessary to bring success, or even to re¬ 
tain the hold on the things that have been accomplished and that 
slip easily away in the hour of adversity. 

A brain that can enter life smooth and a blank, and that can 
go out of life smooth and a blank, is a deplorably weak leader 
of humanity; yet it is made the master of every man and 
woman, whether successful or unsuccessful. It is the ruler 
of great bankers who are great in their business, and yet who 
fall to the lowest depths in the intrigues that are engineered 
by beautiful women, as history and the courts prove. Animal 
cunning is born of the brain, and that is the power that ac¬ 
cumulates wealth, acquires power, and places politicians on 
their thrones of graft and public debauchery. In fact all such 
brands of success are the fruits solely of animal cunning; and 
are therefore lacking in every element of true success. 


SECOND SECTION 


CLEARING THE BRAIN 



HINKING is life, whether accompanied by ac¬ 
tion or not. Action unaccompanied by think¬ 
ing is not life, but is akin to walking in one’s 
sleep. When a person is neither thinking nor 
doing something intelligible, he is unconscious. 
A person can think in one groove for a long 
time, as when the same kind of work is being done all day long 
and day after day; yet it is genuine thinking even if it does 
not change appreciably its line of mental contemplation. 

During unconsciousness the functions of the body are main¬ 
tained; the stomach digests, the heart beats, and the lungs 
breathe; showing that there is life there and that it is active. 
But doctors say that this life is nothing more than tree life. 
The tree digests its food out of the soil and its circulatory sys¬ 
tem carries the sap to every branch, twig and leaf, which is 
no more than is done by the circulation in the body of man; 
and the tree breathes with its leaves as do the lungs. In fact 
the lungs of a living body are an inverted tree, and if placed 
the other side up would have trunk, branches and leaves like a 
tree. The relationship of plant life and animal life including 
man is so close as to be identical. 

When autumn comes and the cold season drives the blood of 
the tree to the ground, all its functions cease, but it still lives. 
There is no digestion of its food, no circulation of its fluid and 
no breathing with its lungs, the leaves; it is dormant but alive. 
And this dormant state is taken on by certain forms of animal 
life. But it is only the cessation of the plant functions that 
sustain the material body. 


33 






































34 


Brain Tests 


Since humanity is sprung from the vegetable kingdom, it 
possesses a highly organized department that is akin to plant 
life. This department is taken care of by the third brain, 
known as the medulla, which is the terminal of the spine. 

Being also sprung from the brute division of the animal 
kingdom, it is endowed with a physical department, which is 
taken care of by the second brain, known as the cerebellum. 

The third brain never ceases its activities; it must maintain 
control over the vegetable functions of life every minute and 
second of the day and night, or death would come quickly. It 
commands that the heart shall beat from a period prior to birth 
until the final curtain is drawn. It pumps the diaphragm and 
thereby compels the lungs to breathe. It supervises the diges¬ 
tive operations that begin with the mouth, lead to the stomach 
and continue through the entire alimentary canal. 

The second brain directs the muscular system, the machinery 
of life, which keeps going even after the real brain is a blank. 
Here is a man who in all the years of his adult existence was a 
king in the mercantile world, who now sits alone gazing at 
everything that is going on about him without seeing or rec¬ 
ognizing anything. He has merely lost his memory, like mil¬ 
lions of aged folks whose brains return to the blank, or semi¬ 
blank state; but he breathes, his heart beats, his digestive sys¬ 
tem carries on its work, his muscles are alert, he walks and goes 
about, uses his hands, writes incoherently but actually, talks 
at random, mutters, mumbles, dresses and undresses himself, 
and performs many duties that are automatically controlled by 
the second brain. He is in every respect the same man that 
nature made him, except that he cannot use his first brain as 
an organ of thought for he has lost his memory, and therefore 
is unable to employ that knowledge that is the result of stored 
up experience. 

Life itself is useless when the first brain, or real brain, be¬ 
comes a blank or semi-blank. Yet on the other hand that very 
brain, being but the storehouse of accumulated experiences, and 
being the best that life can supply, is pronounced an uncer¬ 
tain guide, a most fallible leader. A cursory glance at the 
entire population of this globe, which is supposed to be better 
than ever before, makes one shudder at the abject failure of 
humanity to meet the conditions that ought to have befallen 


35 


Clearing the Brain 

the climax of creation. Our owzl nation is among the best, while 
no better than some of its rivals, yet it is the most humiliating 
apology for the handiwork 6f God that could be conceived. 

The reason for this condition will be set forth in the major 
part of this hook. 

The habit of declaring that human life is a glorious existence, 
instead of meeting the facts face to face and seeking the cause 
of our national disasters, is the most potent cause of the con¬ 
tinuance of these degrading and unsavory experiences that we 
choose to call civilization. 

As long as we look to the brain for our guide, and make it 
our master, so long will we remain in the darkness of failure 
and disappointment; for a stream cannot rise higher than its 
source, nor perfect fruit be borne on diseased trees. 

The truth is, we have chosen the wrong master. 

Let us now seek the TRUTH. 

THE WONDERFUL MEMBRANES 

The life within the body is nervous, which means electrical. 

It is mental, which means electrical and nervous. 

No muscle can move without an electrical impulse. 

No thought can come into being or take action without an 
electrical impulse. 

The MEMBRANES are the collectors and distributors of 
every electrical impulse in the body. That which is called the 
spark of life is spread out all over the membranes of the body; 
and while these agencies do not perform the work of living, 
they originate it, direct it, and control it. The membranes 
that encase the heart, furnish to that organ the power as well 
as the character of its work; for we all know that, while its 
tissue is given the mission of pulsating, the engine force that 
has been declared the greatest for its size and scope in the 
world, is furnished by the vitality of its surrounding case; by 
the flowing mucus that generates and discharges its flood of vital 
energy. 

The stomach membranes do similar work, but must be stimu¬ 
lated by electrical juices. The saliva of the mouth that begins 
the work of perfect digestion flows through membranes. Not 
only is it a digestive power, but its healing qualities are of 


36 


Brain Tests 


great value. The kidneys likewise are controlled by membranes 
which, when they are diseased, bring on the familiar maladies 
that are most feared. To be able to separate the poisoned 
liquid from the blood and thus to fight the battle of life, is 
the mysterious but effective duty of these membranes. There 
is nothing automatic or hap-hazard in this performance; it is 
the marvel of marvels, that so intelligent a function should be 
possible. How it learned to do its work, or by what kind of 
intelligence it carries on this necessary operation day and night 
without ceasing is the mystery of mysteries. 

In fact the greatest inventive genius of the world could never 
invent a process like that. And what is true of one organ, 
is true of all. 

The seat of life is in the membranes, never in the brain. 

The seat of intelligence is in the membranes, never in the 
brain. 

What is immortal in a human being, whether soul, spirit, 
or mind, is seated wholly in the membranes that surround the 
brain. These cannot fade, or become a blank. While the work 
of thinking consists in making use of the storehouse of experi¬ 
ences in the brain, and while the actual work is done by that 
organ, as is the case with all other organs, the control and mas¬ 
tery should always be in the membranes themselves. 

The best illustration of what is meant by the intelligence and 
directing action of a membrane, and one that is most readily 
grasped, is that of the kidneys. When their membranes are 
diseased, they cannot separate the poison from the blood, and 
the kidneys cannot do their work. The intelligence that di¬ 
rects this important function is located wholly in the mem¬ 
branes. And it is a most wonderful intelligence. 

In the same way, but for still more remarkable uses, the 
meninges that surround the brain are charged with a supreme 
intelligence that directs the work of that organ in every avenue 
of thinking. The brain is the engine, or the machine, and the 
surrounding case is the engineer. Both are necessary. The 
driver of a locomotive is not the power, but controls that power, 
without whose mind the power would be wasted. If he were to 
fail to drive his engine, it would rust in time, and decay. 

So with the human brain. 

The neglect of the meninges, their disease or congestion, their 


37 


Clearing the Brain 

warping and atrophying, or whatever else lessens their power 
of maintaining control over the brain, leaves the latter to rust, 
or weaken, or to fade back to the smoothness of infancy, and in 
time to become a blank, or semi-blank. There are a thousand 
ways in which the organ of thought may be injured or weakened. 
There are a thousand misuses of its activities, and a thousand 
forms of neglect of its functions; all of which pave the way for 
the loss of its keenness in old age, if not its stored up knowledge. 

Therefore we have before us two achievements in this study: 

1. To develop and maintain the EIGHT USE OP THE 
BRAIN. 

2. To develop and increase THE INTELLIGENCE OF THE 
MEMBRANES. 

As these achievements open the way to the only existence 
that is worth having in this world, and as they revolutionize 
the whole purpose of living, they must of necessity be acknowl¬ 
edged to furnish the most important study that can engage the 
attention of thoughtful people. 

The first step is to shift the mastery to the meninges. 

Too long have people been ruled by the knowledge that is 
stored away in the organ of thought. A locomotive engineer 
cannot perform the work of his engine, but he can make him¬ 
self its master. The chauffeur cannot do the tasks that his 
car is made to do, but the moment that he loses control of it 
he is in danger. The mind is in the meninges; it cannot do 
the work of the brain, but it should become master of that 
organ, should drive it, and should never permit it to assume 
the power of ruler over life. 

Therefore the first step to be taken is to shift the mastery 
from the brain to the meninges. 

This mastery has come about by the weak or inferior con¬ 
dition of the membranes due to many causes which we shall 
consider. Before doing so, let us compare these membranes 
to the seed of man in order to understand what they are and 
what they contain. The seed of a tree contains in a tiny cell 
that is too small to be seen under an ordinary microscope, the 
whole history of all the trees from which it is descended; the 
fruit, leaves, wood, bark and texture with the influences of an 
endless ancestry, all compressed into a dot so small that its 
details escape the most searching glass. 


38 


Brain Tests 

The seed of man is a mere microscopic dot, a cell within a 
cell, and yet within another cell. It has never been opened to 
the eye of the highest magnifying power known; but it is a 
matter of certainty that it contains all the form and all the 
details of the form that it is to bring into being; the head, eyes, 
ears, face, hair, lungs, heart, all the organs, the body in every 
characteristic, color of skin, color of hair and eyes, mental quali¬ 
ties, ancestral influences for many generations back, diseases 
that can be transmitted, blood taint, and endless peculiarities 
from a long past; all shut up within this dot, and carried in its 
tiny prison until the day when it shall reproduce. 

If we could see with eyes powerful enough to dissect the 
whole interior structure of one of those cells, we would behold 
the entire life of the man spread out within the walls of the 
cell, arranged and classified for the work of building a human 
body. A dot smaller than the point of the finest cambric 
needle is yet large enough to contain every bit of the future his¬ 
tory of the man, and every bit of the past history of his an¬ 
cestry. Not alone are the physical characteristics reproduced, 
but even the disposition, the mental value, and the nervous 
qualities are held in abeyance to come forth when that new life 
is growing. 

Now if so small a cell can hold so much, what shall be said 
of the meninges that surround the brain? 

They contain the mind, the spirit, the spark of life and all 
that constitutes the immortal part of the human body. These 
attributes could not reside in the brain, for that begins life 
a blank, and often so ends; while the membranes do not require 
development; they are there from eternity; they had their ex¬ 
istence from the long past. In the seed of man they dwelt 
and sustained the whole history of the generations that have 
come and gone. 

A great physiologist said: “The seat of life is in the mem¬ 
branes in all parts of the body.” 

A great mental expert said: * 4 The seat of the mind is in the 
meninges attached to the brain, not in the brain itself.” 

One of the world’s greatest doctors said: “If there is an 
immortal soul in a human body, it can be contained in no part 
except the vital membranes which are charged with an intelli¬ 
gence that surpasses all our understanding.” 


39 


Clearing the Brain 

A surgeon of wide fame said, “When I see spread before me 
the pia mater I feel that if I had an eye powerful enough to 
probe into its secrets, I could read written there the history 
of mankind from the remotest past; for such history is undoubt¬ 
edly a part of its structure.” The pia mater is the membrane 
that rests upon the brain itself. Through its surface during 
thought, a continual stream of mucus highly charged with 
electrical acids, is poured upon that part of the brain that is 
excited into action. Just as the vital flow of electricity moves 
the muscles into action, so the vital flow of this electrically 
charged mucus excites the brain into action. 

The work that the brain is able to do depends on its own 
powers and accumulated experiences; but what it is directed to 
do depends on the commands issued by the mind that dwells in 
the meninges. Every man and woman is in one kind of ac¬ 
tivity or another: 

1. Either following the random and hap-hazard action of the 
brain; 

2. Or directing the activities of the brain by the mastery of 
the mind. 

In the former case the results are human and at random, be¬ 
cause there is no true leader driving the engine of thought. 

In the latter case the results depend on the condition physi¬ 
cally of the organ of the mind, the meninges. These mem¬ 
branes are weakened or injured by any one or more of the fol¬ 
lowing causes: 

1. Inherited disease. 

2. Chronic disease. 

3. Acute lesions. 

4. Inflammation. 

5. Poison from excess of food elements. 

6. Insufficient food elements. 

7. Non-foods in the diet. 

8. Improperly cooked foods. 

9. Intestinal poisoning. 

10. Teeth abscesses. 

11. Diseased tonsils. 

12. Bone pressure inherited or accidental. 

13. Excitement. 

14. Grief. 


40 


Brain Tests 


Autopsies show that inherited conditions keep pace with the 
place in the scale of civilization occupied by a person, tribe, 
or nation. There has never yet been found meninges that were 
normal in a savage; and this condition seems due to generations 
of food deficiency, or food lacking in proper nutrition or free 
from poison elements. The lower down in the scale of bar¬ 
barism, the more abnormal were the meninges. An expert 
studying these membranes is able to determine the degree of 
savagery displayed by their deficient structure. Crime of all 
kinds involving cruelty and murder, may be seen depicted as 
plainly as if written in history. 

There have been few American Indians that have been gen¬ 
tle, honest and peace loving; nearly all have been warlike and 
brutal; and these traits are not only found plainly indicated 
on the membranes, but are known to have been caused by the 
abnormal conditions present in them, driving the brain to or¬ 
iginate and plan the execution of the diabolical deeds in which 
they gloried. 

It is known that there are many foods eaten that are not 
suited to the needs of the body; and these act directly on these 
membranes; almost from the time they enter the stomach. A 
people or even a nation is known by its diet, and is controlled 
by its diet. It has been asserted many times that the nations 
that are called civilized are wheat eating nations; that no peo¬ 
ple that were deprived of wheat ever rose high in the scale of 
civilization. This is not always true; for the facts are that 
wheat contains all the elements needed by the human body, and 
in the exact proportions required, and when a people or nation 
can find a food that meets these requirements they rise high 
in the scale of civilization. 

But wheat was on earth before man arrived, and was waiting 
for his coming; so it was clearly intended as his food. Con¬ 
taining as it does all the elements needed, and in exact propor¬ 
tions, it undoubtedly was created by special design for his bene¬ 
fit. Yet if we look over the nations of the world we will be 
surprised to learn that those that are wheat-eating are the 
ones that stand highest in the scale of civilization. We also find 
that the lower the character of the general food eaten by a peo¬ 
ple, the lower that people will stand in the same scale. These 
facts cannot be ignored. 


41 


Clearing the Brain 

It is impossible for the membranes to become normal when 
the food is abnormal; and when generations of abnormal food 
have dealt injury to these vital parts, the result is savagery 
fixed and permanent. 

Experiments have shown clearly that it is not the brain, but 
the meninges that suffer from poison, or poison food, or in¬ 
flammatory drinks. A man was recently killed in a drunken 
brawl; and the autopsy showed the brain to be wholly free from 
injury, but the meninges were inflamed to an excessive degree 
from alcohol. In discussing the case the surgeon said, ‘ * This is 
the usual condition, the brain normal, the meninges highly in¬ 
flamed from alochoL ,, It was not the normal brain that in¬ 
spired the drunken brawl; it was the abnormal membranes that 
took charge of the brain action at a time when they were not 
fit to direct either the thoughts or the conduct of the man. 

The same is true when the foods are unfit for the needs of the 
body; they irritate the entire membranous system, and set up 
inflammation in all parts, but first affect those that control the 
brain. When a loving couple have returned from their honey¬ 
moon with never a sign of a quarrel in the horizon, and the 
gentle wife prepares or orders his first meals in their own 
domicile, and indigestion fells him day after day, the inflamma¬ 
tion that climbs up into his dome soon makes itself felt in the 
erratic use of language and the exasperating irritability of his 
conduct towards her. A change has come over Harold. 

A young man who had been brought up in the country mi¬ 
grated to the city and ate what was obtainable; he soon was 
the victim of congestion of the stomach; later on he became in¬ 
sane much to the surprise of those who had known him. The 
autopsy showed a perfectly normal brain, but highly inflamed 
meninges; and experts did not hesitate to declare that it was 
a case of food poisoning acting exactly as alcohol acts. A man 
suffering from typhoid fever, slew himself while in a delirium, 
and the autopsy showed a perfectly normal brain, but highly 
inflamed meninges due to the fever. Practically all victims of 
typhoid have delirium, and lose their reason for a while. 

A man suffering from delirium tremens following a career 
of drunken debauchery, saw more animal life than was ever 
contained in the largest menagerie on earth; dragons, snakes, 
vermin, flying demons, and countless other specimens of an 


42 


Brain Tests 


exotic character never described in any book of authority on 
the animal kingdom. The autopsy showed a badly poisoned 
brain, but the meninges were of almost blackish purple color 
and inflamed to a degree hardly ever witnessed before. The 
surgeon made the statement that the forms of animal life that 
had brought terror to his last hours were imbedded in the mem¬ 
branes, and had come down from an era in the history of the 
earth when this man’s ancestors actually lived among such 
life and beheld it; and he added these words: “I have not 
the slightest doubt that the meninges contain written in their 
tissue-cells the whole history of the past; and if we could read 
that history we would solve every problem of creation.” 

Delirium is known not to be seated in the brain itself, but 
in its surrounding envelope; therefore the strange forms that 
are seen during moments or periods of mental aberration are not 
produced by the brain, but by its envelope. If these strange 
forms differ from any things or any kinds of life that are not 
contemporaneous, it is fair to assume that they are, as the 
surgeon said, imbedded in the meninges and have come down 
from a past so remote that no account has been made of them 
by races now on earth. If man lived a hundred thousand years 
ago, he may have seen strange demons, dragons, reptiles and 
horrible forms of life, for they must have dwelt then on the 
globe; and if nothing is lost in the tissue-cells of these mem¬ 
branes, then those sights are still recorded there, and all we 
lack is the knowledge and power to read them. Some day, 
not far distant, this knowledge and power may be given the 
race. 

This view is sustained by the best opinions of men of science; 
but it also is necessary to account for the strange sights that are 
thrown into the brain during any form of delirium or fright. 
Something cannot come from nothing. If a man sees dragons 
and reptiles, it is safe to assert that they are pictured in some 
part of his head; and as the brain itself is a vanishing organ, 
they can come only from the membranes. 

The seed of man is smaller than the point of the finest cambric 
needle; infinitely smaller; yet if there could be made a magnify- 
ing power sufficient to show the contents of that tiny seed, it 
would be made to appear as large as a mountain; and in its 
billions of parts would be found the whole history of the ancestry 


43 


Clearing the Brain 

of man from the beginning of creation. Likewise if we could 
magnify the smallest dot on the meninges we doubtless would 
see the whole history of the human race from the earliest birth 
of man; we would read as in millions of photographs the visions 
that every ancestor witnessed as he beheld life and activities 
around him. 

There is not the slightest doubt that the meninges contain and 
retain throughout all eternity the impressions encountered by 
all the ancestors that preceded them in the long past. Note 
how much of the world that embraces. One man had two par¬ 
ents; four grandparents; eight great-grandparents; and so on 
until in about twenty-one generations back he had over one 
million ancestors and probably was related to every human be¬ 
ing on earth in that stretch of time. 

If the envelope that surrounds the brain contains microscopic 
photographs of all the experiences of the past, just as we know 
positively that the seed of man contains all the characteristics 
of the whole past, then it is true that this envelope is a written 
history of the whole race. What our ancestors saw as they 
looked out on the life about them, especially in those prehis- 
for the purpose of living in a world not like that of today, 
must account for the strange visions and experiences that come 
in dreams and in delirium. The habit of indulging in opium 
for the purpose of living in a world not like that of today, 
has been productive of dreams that can never be explained 
except on the theory there must be stored up in the brain 
meninges the photographs and experiences of a long prehis¬ 
toric past. 

What you see in a dream, what you behold in a delirium, 
what you encounter in the reverie, or what forms of inspir¬ 
ation come to you in the sudden flights of fancy known as 
genius, what secrets are disclosed to you when in an inventive 
mood, are all written on the envelope that surrounds your 
brain. 

This brings us to the two grand divisions of this subject: 

1. The visions disclosed by the membranes when in per¬ 
fectly normal conditions are orderly and true; and become 
a safe guide in life. 

2. The visions disclosed by the membranes when in an ab¬ 
normal, congested or inflamed condition are distorted, fright- 


44 Brain Tests 

ful at times, disordered at their best, and always an unsafe 
guide in life. 

From these two grand divisions we deduce the great law: 

THE SCALE OF CIVILIZATION IS DETERMINED BY 
THE CONDITION OF THE MEMBRANES. 

The first evidence that came to our attention along these 
lines was from experiments made with persons who were sen¬ 
sitive to intestinal poisoning. 

This kind of poisoning has for many years furnished to 
experts in the study of insanity, grounds for suspicion of 
the influence of such toxic dangers on the mental condition. 
They conducted the following tests: 

Inmates of asylums who suffered from delusions were given 
plain and very wholesome foods entirely suited to the body, and 
selected with care to supply only the elements required to 
make pure blood; and in every instance the delusions 
disappeared. 

Foods of the kind that the patients craved were then given; 
and as these generated intestinal poisoning, the delusions 
returned. 

In one case the sulpher in eggs always set up these toxic 
conditions and the mental balance immediately was lost. 

In another case a patient who craved smoked herring, and 
who always suffered intestinal poisoning as a consequence of 
eating abundantly of them, was obsessed with the belief that 
everybody was seeking his life; but when the food was clean 
and wholesome, the mind at once cleared. 

A woman who took her life following a period of intestinal 
poisoning, was found to have died under the influence of highly 
inflamed meninges; and stomach and intestines gave evidence 
of decided congestion and poisoning, due wholly to improper 
food. 

A well known case of delusion and mild insanity was that 
where a man made his breakfasts of fried sausages and buck¬ 
wheat cakes; both very bad foods; following such diet he 
suffered from congested stomach and inflamed membranes, 
which set up mental aberration to such an extent that he was 
confined in an asylum. There he seemed perfectly rational, 
and the officials recommended his release on the ground of 
being normal mentally, until relatives suggested that if he 


45 


Clearing the Brain 

were released he might he dangerous to himself and to others. 
This led to an investigation of his home diet. On learning 
that his favorite breakfasts consisted of sausages and cakes, 
these were given him, with the result that he became insane 
during the period of their presence in the body. 

Alienists, or experts in insanity, are devoting much time 
to the effect of bad food on the mental condition through 
the congestion and inflammation of the meninges. They have 
as their basis the fact that alcohol, when it reaches the mem¬ 
branes and inflames them, will cause some form of mental 
derangement. The action is simple. The irritant set up by 
alcohol congests the stomach; this congestion travels rapidly 
to the head; the meninges are known to become inflamed; and 
when inflamed they influence the brain in such a way that it 
is incoherent and erratic. A man otherwise gentle and decent 
will beat his wife when he is drunk; or will indulge in profane 
and obscene talk; or he will insult and abuse his dearest 
friends and loved ones; all because his brain envelope is 
inflamed. 

That it is not the brain that is inflamed has been proved 
countless times by autopsies, which show the brain to be normal, 
while the meninges are in very bad condition. This distinc¬ 
tion should be kept in mind. 

Also it should not be forgotten that the brain is a vanish¬ 
ing organ; as is proved in age when the memory begins to leave 
it and it begins to drift toward the blank condition of birth. 

There are cases of men who have completely lost their memo¬ 
ries, and whose brains are in a so-called smooth or blank con¬ 
dition, who have become fathers late in life. In every instance 
the children grew up normal and bright. On the other hand 
when men who are insane become fathers, the children are 
always abnormal and erratic. This shows that abnormal brains 
and normal meninges breed normal children; while normal 
brains and abnormal meninges breed erratic children. The seed 
of man is controlled by the membranes and not by the brain 
in certain conditions. 

These facts do not change the general truth that the brain 
is the engine, and that if it be lacking, defective, or diseased 
in any of its parts, the engineer cannot drive it successfully. 
So if the latter be congested or deficient, it is just as incom- 


46 


Brain Tests 


petent as any engineer would be. The perfect combination 
is a normal engineer in control of a normal engine; a normal 
envelope directing the activities of a normal brain. 

From the beginning of time the membranes have suffered 
from long continued and inherited congestion. The result has 
been a state of low civilization; and universal erratic mental 
action. Take any history that you like, and look at the beliefs 
of the most advanced people in any era. The Greeks were 
called the finest type of a high culture, and the wisest of all 
wise people; yet the system of pagan worship, of gods and demi¬ 
gods, of the doings of their deities, present a mental state of 
delusion and hallucination far below some of the conditions 
met with in modern insanity. Were any man to invent and 
teach such a system today he would not be able to make a will 
that would be probated after his death. The diet of the Greeks 
was far from normal; their brain meninges must of necessity 
have suffered; and they were, while not always victims of alco¬ 
holism, subject to all the erratic mental conditions that attend 
inflammation of the meninges, and just as insane as any semi- 
barbarous people are today. 

There has never been an age in which the diet has been 
normal; and when it is abnormal, the mind is never normal. 
It cannot be. 

While it is rare that the brain has been subjected to exam¬ 
ination in autopsies reaching as far as the barbarous or savage 
tribes now on earth, the total number of such conditions that 
have been observed mounts up to a figure sufficient to establish 
the rule that such peoples possess an exceedingly abnormal 
brain envelope, inherited from many generations, and account¬ 
ing for their savage state; for their djet is known to be 
wretchedly bad and unfit. 

As it can be easily proved that whatever congests the system, 
as alcohol and irritating and inflaming foods, will interfere 
with the normal action of the brain and make it erratic, so it 
is true that the diet of savages not only accounts for their savage 
state, but prevents their rise into a civilization. 

The whole history of the English people is that of continued 
and unabated insanity. Take their forms of trial by fire, take 
all their foolish religious conflicts, take all their silly systems of 
rule and misrule, their persecutions and superstitions, and the 


47 


Clearing the Brain 

countless foibles that they have clung to, and you will see 
hardly a lucid interval. And their diet has kept pace with 
their insane delusions. Burning people to death for mere be¬ 
liefs in religious dogmas, or pressing them to death for supposed 
witchcraft, were only samples of their uniform mental 
distortions. 

You may take the reddest of the red-handed reds whose lives 
are devoted to the doctrine of destruction of law and govern¬ 
ment, and feed them normal food until their brain envelopes 
are freed from their congestion, and they will awake as from 
a fitful dream and bask in the light of law and order. 

The kind of food and drink that enters the body, determines 
the character and nature of people. It has been proved that 
those who indulge in beer as freely as a sane man does in 
pure water, are cruel, brutal and heartless. They have beer 
stomachs, beer blood and beer membranes, and their minds 
and natures are soaked in beer. Men who eat too much beef 
are of beef minds; pork eaters are of pork minds; and all eaters 
of indigestible foods are irritable and ugly. It all comes down 
to the law that says that: 

CIVILIZATION KEEPS PACE WITH THE CONDITION 
OF THE MENINGES OF THE BRAIN. 

Summed up the simplest forms of proof are as follows: 

1. We know for a certainty that alcohol inflames the men¬ 
inges, and interferes with the normal action of the brain. 

2. That inflammation of the blood in fever acts directly on 
the meninges and causes delirium and temporary insanity. 

3. That a wrong diet causes congestion of the same organs, 
attended by irritability which is incipient insanity. 

4. That tests made on insane patients show that insanity 
is intensified by a diet that causes congestion, and is lessened 
by a pure diet. 

5. That a certain class of insane patients who are given at 
all times a proper diet, are wholly free from insanity as a 
result. 

6. That savages possess warped, stunted and abnormal mem¬ 
branes; and always representative of their real status in the 
scale of civilization. 

An expert like Louis Agassiz, the eminent naturalist, was 
able to build the entire structure of an extinct animal from the 


48 


Brain Tests 


smallest bone of the body, with no other help. Likewise emi¬ 
nent experts in anthropology are able to determine the rank of 
a man in the scale of civilization by studying the meninges 
taken from the body after death. 

Very few indeed of the brain envelopes are normal; just as 
very few of the stomachs of men and women are normal. And 
aside from that inherited defect that attends all savage peoples 
and all semi-civilized peoples such as the leading nations of 
Europe and America, despite their claim to have reached a 
high state of civilization, almost all brain envelopes are cap¬ 
able of being made normal by new habits of food selection and 
food preparation. 

When perfectly whole and normal these meninges throw 
through their pores a continual stream of mucus highly charged 
with electrical acids, by which thought is possible. Let these 
pores be diseased, or warped, or adhere, or otherwise injured, 
and thought becomes erratic. It is said that in savages many 
parts are dwarfed; other parts contracted, and still other parts 
adhere to either the brain or the skull. In the lowest type of 
humanity this envelope is a wretched piece of anatomy; and 
yet there are men and women in our own race who so abuse 
their lives by a wicked diet and drink that they are on a 
plane with some of the savages. 

In discussing this theme a well known surgeon said, “If 
we could graft into the head of a savage, or even one of our 
brutal citizens, clean meninges and clean blood to supply them 
with nutrition, we could transform the savage and the brute 
into a highly civilized being.’’ 

Referring again to the fact that the seed of man contains 
the whole history of his race and ancestry in the minutest 
details, or else such traits could not be transmitted to his off¬ 
spring, we find the same history of the long past with photo¬ 
graphic records written on the meninges that surround the 
brain. If we had the power to read that history we would 
see before us every transaction that was witnessed by any of 
the millions of ancestors of the individual of today; we would 
behold the scenes through which they passed; the environ¬ 
ments of their lives; the struggles they encountered; their 
associates, their enemies and friends, and the wild forms that 
terrified them and drove them to cover; but we would go 


49 


Clearing the Brain 

back farther than that to the story of the beginning of all 
things. Secrets and mysteries would vanish. The unsolved 
problems of today would be an open book. 

No person knows what electricity is, but what it does is known. 
No one understands the principle on which the radio activities 
produce their remarkable results; but they have compelled the 
world to recognize the existence of the universal ether, which 
is an inner medium possessing the power to transmit messages 
without the use of wires. That such a power could exist was 
denied by the ablest scientists of fifty years ago; and even 
ridiculed. 

As nature never stands still, but is constantly progressing, 
it is not an idle hope that some day, and not in the remote 
future, the means may be discovered of reading the history that 
is inscribed on the brain envelope, just as we know the his¬ 
tory that is contained in every seed. 

One satisfaction remains to all who live today. While the 
brain tends to return to its condition of blankness as memory 
vanishes, the envelope responds to good treatment and knows 
no vanishing. It is weakened through injury, and runs amuck 
in delirium, but never fails in its work when given the oppor¬ 
tunity of carrying on its functions normally. It survives all 
the disasters of ill health, and goes down to the grave untouched 
by age or decrepitude. 

As an indication that nature intends to encourage efforts to 
bring this envelope up to the highest standard of value, it is 
a well known fact that no part of the body repairs itself so 
quickly under good treatment, or emerges so rapidly from 
a debased state to that of the best condition when given the 
care and attention that it deserves. As it determines the place 
in the scale of civilization of its possessor, and as civilization 
keeps pace with its condition, it merits the best care that hu¬ 
manity can bestow upon it. 

When given a perfect diet such as that prescribed in the 
book of Complete Life Building, of which this is a post-gradu¬ 
ate system, it improves so quickly in its general health that the 
effect is soon manifested. 

Pure outdoor air on which the sun has been shining, if in¬ 
haled deeply, will aid this diet to such an extent that it is worth 
indulging in many times daily. 


THIRD SECTION 


WONDERS OF THE BRAIN 

UPPOSE you were to be asked what is the most 
remarkable characteristic of the human race, 
and the one that divides it from the lower forms 
of life, you would at once reply, the faculty of 
speech. There are species in the animal king¬ 
dom that possess the larynx, the vocal cords, 
the tongue, the palate, the teeth and the lips, all of which are 
employed in the expression of vowels, consonants, words, phrases 
and sentences; but an examination of the structure of the brain 
discloses the fact that no life below that of man possesses the 
development necessary for making intelligent sounds that are 
called speech. 

The brain is divided into sections, each playing its part in 
the activities of an intelligent life, and each storing away the 
knowledge or remembrance of experiences for use later on as 
guiding influences in after years. In the human brain there 
are sections added that show the intended superiority of man¬ 
kind over the beasts. Left to themselves, there have never 
been animals on earth that could have entered upon the work 
of bringing civilization in the world. Human beings only have 
been endowed with this power; and the distinguishing endow¬ 
ment has been given in the form of the faculty of speech, 
both spoken and written. 

We might devote this book to the task of describing and 
explaining each section of the brain and its duty in making 
the race intelligent and civilized as well as all its other activi¬ 
ties; but the principle would remain the same whether one or 
every section had our attention. For this reason we will de¬ 
scribe one only; and that will be the most important because 

50 


































Wonders of the Brain 51 

it has been the great leading power in setting up civilization 
on earth. 

Countless hundreds of experiments have been made with liv¬ 
ing brains, and countless autopsies have been made after death, 
so that the knowledge on this subject of brain sections and 
their separate uses is well established. Two facts must be kept 
in mind: 

1. The brain section is an engine that can perform its work 
well only when it is normal in structure and health. 

2. The engineer that drives this engine is that portion of 
the membrane that lies close against the section of the brain, 
and controls its power by an electrical flow of mucus highly 
charged with the vital essence of the mind. The membrane con¬ 
tains the real mind that never fades with age, nor is lost in death 
as we shall show; while the engine called the brain section 
is the most frail form of life in the body. 

Many years ago the section of the brain that supplied the 
function of speech was located in the rear portion of the third 
convolution, called by scientists the inferior frontal convolu¬ 
tion. It has been named Broca’s convolution after the surgeon 
who first discovered its exact location. What is now known as 
the 1 ‘speech center” has been localized even more exactly by 
some scientists of recent years, but all agree that the section 
referred to contains such center; which suffices for our use 
at this time. 

Aphasia as a distinct disease of this part of the brain means 
the loss of the power of speech; and has two divisions: 

1. This defect in some cases prevents the utterance of words 
spoken or written. 

2. In other cases it prevents understanding words spoken 
or written. 

In either case the trouble arises from what is called a lesion 
in the “speech center” as has been proved so many times as to 
have become common knowledge. Or it may be due to the pres¬ 
sure of a part of the skull by defect in growth or by injury on 
the “speech center.” In old people and in those, old or young, 
whose minds are weakening, the gradually slipping away of 
words, names, dates, and general facts, is due to lesion caused 
by some form of disease, not in the brain itself, BUT IN THE 
MEMBRANE! 


52 


Brain Tests 


The latter class of troubles have been the subject of much 
discussion among surgeons who recommend a system of restora¬ 
tion based on giving attention to the health of the membrane. 
This is the result of learning that the brain itself may be in 
perfect health and condition, and yet the power of speech, or 
the recalling of names, words, ideas, dates and facts may be 
slowly slipping away from a person who is otherwise perfectly 
normal. 

This disease is not only common, but is growing more and 
more common, and with danger to the safety of the victim and 
to those who must live in his companionship. It is an in¬ 
cipient stage of insanity that suddenly becomes alarming. 
Hence, while there is time to bring the membrane into good 
health, and the mind into its normal state, every person should 
make the effort to do so. 

When a person finds that he cannot recall the name of some 
friend or acquaintance, or of some place or circumstance, he 
begins to harbor a fear that something is happening to his men¬ 
tal powers; and this fear serves to aggravate the very condition 
that he finds confronting him. Worry and gloomy forebod¬ 
ings follow with their increasing ills, and evil influences. All 
the while the only trouble is a diseased state of the membrane 
and not of the brain itself. The cure should not be difficult. 
But it must not be neglected. 

Aphasia, which has been referred to as the loss of the power 
of speech whether spoken or written, need not be attended by 
loss of memory; although it is certain that when words, names 
and facts are coming into the brain, there is a memory ap¬ 
paratus, as it is called, that stores them all away for future 
use; the words, names and associated ideas being stored in the 
“ speech center /’ That memory is not always lost when the 
power to speak or write a name or idea is gone, has been proved 
by the statements of those who have recovered from the trouble, 
who say that they at all times knew the words they wished to 
speak or write, and the names they desired to express, but that 
they could not give them utterance; and it was found that 
there was no paralysis of the muscles of articulation. The 
whole injury lay in the brain section itself, or in the mem¬ 
brane. 

Sounds, whether made by nature, or mechanically, or by per- 


Wonders of the Brain 


53 


sons speaking, can be transferred into the brain and there in¬ 
terpreted rightly until they convey words, syllables, phrases or 
sentences; in which case if the person is suffering from aphasia, 
no meaning whatever is conveyed. This is true of writing as 
well as of speech. The brain is deprived of its means of know¬ 
ing what such sounds mean. If a dog whines, the fact is fully 
understood; if a child screams from pain when injured, the 
fact is known and the aphasia victim rushes to the aid of the 
child; but if the latter tries to tell the cause of the scream, the 
words fall upon a blank section of the brain and are there 
lost through lack of being interpreted. 

Some tests were made that showed that while the speech 
center is located in one section, the musical center is found to 
be in another section; and persons who were wholly unable to 
speak their ideas succeeded in singing them; but this line of 
experiments has not been very successful, for the reason that the 
speech center must be the one to interpret the ideas that are 
carried in words; and this failure to give true interpretation is 
extended to all other sections. A man who was a member of a 
church choir, lost his power of speech through aphasia, but 
sang constantly; and on having recovered said that he did not 
know what he sang; he knew what he wanted to say, but could 
not speak or write the words, and what he sang was wholly 
disconnected from the ideas in his mind. It was an automatic 
repetition of past uses of his voice in song. 

A child left to itself, and never hearing words spoken by 
others, will create a language of its own suited to its experi¬ 
ences. Some words are imitative; some are results of natural 
efforts to designate things and persons. The word “mama” 
comes naturally as almost the first one coined by the infant and 
by nature would be the first word of a world language, as it 
is almost universal. The word “papa” is exactly the same 
word as “mama” being made in the same way and by the 
same action, with the “m” aspirated, and would by nature be 
the second word of a world language. By finding all the first 
words that come naturally to children all over the globe, it is 
possible to lay the foundation for a universal tongue, deprived 
of its artificial character. 

The fact that interests us now is that language will grow 
of itself no matter where the child may be. As we have said, 


54 


Brain Tests 


if it is left to itself it will create a language of its own, re¬ 
quiring study to learn it and to understand it. Peoples who 
have been separated by geographical divisions of the earth, 
create their own language; and these may be widely apart from 
those of their neighbors. But these differences are never in 
ideas, for they are made by the different uses of the basis of 
sounds, the fifteen vowel tones, and the twenty or thirty con¬ 
sonant articulations; the latter being merely contact positions 
of the tongue, throat and lips in beginning or ending vowels. 
While we are taught in schools that there are five vowels, and 
twenty-one consonants, it is a fact that “a” in such a word as 
“mat” is not the same as “a” in “all” or “mate” or “mark.” 
The actual number of vowel tones in all the world is limited; 
as are the consonants; but as these permit millions of combina¬ 
tions, it is not surprising that there are many thousands of 
languages in existence. 

Yet all are born of the same section of the brain, and all have 
the same simple elements as the basis of their construction. 
And they are the one wonderful gift of the Creator to humanity; 
and the gift by which it is possible to have any civilization 
on earth. Take away this one faculty and all civilization crum¬ 
bles into dust and nothingness. 

Yet this faculty is abused without limit. 

Tests show that in every thousand cases of defective uses 
of the word making power, more than ninety percent are due to 
abuse of the life and vital nature of the membranes, known to 
scientists as the meninges. 

Nearly every person who is dumb, as far as autopsies have 
disclosed the real conditions, owes this fault to shrunken sec¬ 
tions of the membranes that adjoin the “speech section” of the 
brain. Practically all persons who are unable to give expres¬ 
sion to their thoughts owe the fault to the same abnormal con¬ 
dition, and not to any injury to the brain itself. 

Civilization keeps pace with the rational use of the power 
of spoken and written language; both born of the faculty by 
which nature lifts humanity out of the beast groups of the 
animal kingdom. 

If there were no spoken language, there could be no scale 
of civilization. If no written language existed, the mind of 
man could never unfold itself. It is therefore a clearly logical 


Wonders of the Brain 


55 


assertion that an abused, or misused, or abnormal power that 
drives and controls the gift of language, is not a fit engineer 
for the work, no matter how fit the engine may be. We call 
the brain the engine, and the meninges the engineer. 

Here are some episodes that will indicate the value of a 
clearly working engineer driving intelligently a clearly work¬ 
ing engine: 

1. A minister enters his pulpit on a Sunday morning. He 
has been suffering from a cold. Before leaving the house he 
partook of some brandied peaches, omitting the peaches, in 
order to obtain relief from the cold. In the pulpit he said 
among other things: “I have been suffering from a bad cold. 
The darn thing almost kept me from coming here this morn¬ 
ing; but, thanks to brother Mary Brown, and sister John Lubri¬ 
cant, I got down a guzzle full of liquid peaches. ”—His brain 
was in perfect physical condition; but the brandy had caused 
a temporary inflammation of the meninges, or engineer, with 
result that the engineer was driving the engine just as a 
drunken or half drunken banker drives his automobile, which of 
itself is a perfect machine. The duty of the preacher is to 
uplift humanity as an aid to bringing a nobler civilization on 
earth. 

2. A merchant who has recently opened a store in a town 
where he is a stranger, and who is desirous of pleasing the 
public and setting up a prosperous business, takes one drink 
too many on the way to his store. A very wealthy lady enters 
with the purpose of buying freely of his goods; and he greets 
her in the following language: “Hullo, sweety. Come to see 
what I’ve got, eh? Come around behind the counter and pull 
these out for yourself. You need to reduce a little, and exercise 
won’t hurt you, nor any fat female.” This is not a fictitious 
case; it is founded on fact. Business is one branch of civiliza¬ 
tion ; and its betterment plays an important part in the general 
trend of a higher plane of living. This merchant possessed a 
perfectly normal brain, but the alcohol had inflamed the menin¬ 
ges and prevented the proper use of language to convey his ideas 
to his customer. 

3. A beautiful woman sits by the window of her home, look¬ 
ing out upon the street. A man passes frequently along the 
street, and is attracted to the face. He seeks and secures a 


56 


Brain Tests 


proper introduction in time, and calls on her. In his first con¬ 
versation, she makes this statement: “I have saw you looking 
up into me. Funny, how you gawked. But it is all right. I 
stay in doors. I have not went out lately. Intestines gone on 
a strike. ”—The man lost no time in getting out. A doctor told 
him that the woman suffered from a general membranous con¬ 
gestion of the whole vital system due to intestinal poisoning 
from badly selected food; and that this congestion, on reaching 
the meninges at the brain, immediately affected her power of 
speech; that she was an educated and refined woman when in 
health. 

Civilization depends not only on the moral force of religion, 
and the constructive force of business, but must have for one 
of its sustaining powers a high degree of refinement and edu¬ 
cation, both of which this woman had when well. Yet the only 
change that had taken place in her was the defect in the faculty 
of speech; showing that speech may make or break all civiliza¬ 
tion ; which is a self-evident fact. 

4. A woman of culture and gentleness when in health, was 
poisoned by continued late dinners that were indigestible, re¬ 
sulting in a chronic inflammation of the meninges. She became 
cruel to all animals, even torturing them. She punished one of 
her children without cause and made it a cripple. Her conduct 
drove her husband into the divorce court, and estranged all 
her friends and relatives. Alienists pronounced her sane, but 
ruled by an uncontrollable temper, which she had never possessed 
prior to this period. The demand of civilization that gentleness 
and culture shall be paramount in human conduct, was not met 
in this case. All the cruel characters in history have been vic¬ 
tims of the same disease of the meninges. All the tortures of 
the religious victims in the name of peace on earth and good 
will to men, have been perpetrated by edicts sent forth by men 
who were sufferers from diseased meninges. 

In the case of this woman, when her full cure and good 
health were secured by the ministrations of the Ralston Health 
Club, her purity of heart, her sweetness and gentleness of dis¬ 
position, her culture and attractiveness all returned; her hus¬ 
band learned the cause and re-married her; the animals no longer 
shrank from her approach; and she spent half her fortune in 
the employment of a world-famed surgeon who restored her child 


Wonders of the Brain 57 

to a normal condition. She made amends for sins for which she 
was in no way to blame. 

Civilization demands that every human being shall be released 
from the abnormal influence of diseased meninges. 

5. Daniel Webster when under the influence of whiskey at¬ 
tended a concert in which the great singer, Jenny Lind, took 
part. When she came upon the stage, seeing Webster in the 
audience, she bowed graciously to him. He at once arose, and 
bowed to her. This she returned, and supposed the salutations 
were at an end. But he again arose and bowed; which she re¬ 
turned. This proceeding would have continued for some time 
had not a friend pulled him down and held him down. This 
mighty man who carried on his shoulders the Constitution of 
the United States, and who lost the nomination for the Presi¬ 
dency through an ill-advised speech, went into his sixties a 
broken man, because of the abuse of his stomach; and a year or 
two before his death he was pronounced the most “magnificent 
wreck” in history. The autopsy showed that his brain was not 
only normal and in perfect health, but was among the largest 
ever known. It is still preserved. The meninges were badly 
diseased by abuses occurring during his life. 

Civilization demands that there shall be leaders among men 
to inspire and guide them to higher planes; but when the might¬ 
iest brain of the land is an engine driven by an irresponsible 
engineer, the meninges, there can be no uplifting of civilization 
from that source. 

6. A young man enters a store for the purpose of learning the 
business and becoming a leading merchant when he is a man. 
He is voluble in his talk, and what he says is of a rambling 
nature; or else is flippant and impertinent so that he is allowed to 
resign. He passes from one employer to another, and eventually 
becomes a tramp. 

7. A young lady is given a position of trust in a cashier’s 
office, and is unable to shut off a flow of talk. Her usefulness, is 
sadly impaired, and she goes from one place to another until 
some half-witted fellow marries her, and she becomes a common 
scold. 

8. Many years ago common scolds were punished by the duck¬ 
ing stool; they were strapped securely in a chair, attached to the 
end of a long tilting pole, and placed on the edge of a pond or 


58 


Brain Tests 


river. By elevating the land end of the pole, the chair end was 
submerged in the water. This practice was used as late as 1809. 
While the public disgrace and the jeers of the crowds, as well as 
the discomfort of the enforced bath checked for a while the dis¬ 
ease of scolding, it did not cure it; and it was considered incur¬ 
able. A large number of autopsies have disclosed the fact that 
the brain was in normal condition, but that the meninges were 
inflamed, or distorted, or excessively thick and out of true form 
in all women so examined who had been common scolds. 

This disease today is just as prevalent as formerly. The 
women who are scolds do not realize the fact. They talk and 
talk incessantly whether scolding or not; but a mean nature 
colors their remarks, which become nagging and heckling. 
Civilization can never make any progress when the “speech 
center’’ runs away with the mind. The rapidity and volubility 
with which many women talk and race on, and on, until their 
victims pity and endure them, and escape as soon as possible, al¬ 
ways dodging them in the future, could not advance them the 
millionth part of an inch in the scale of civilization, no matter 
what else they had that balanced this mental defect. It is a 
recognized malady. 

9. A young woman graduated from the Normal School and 
was accepted as a clerk in a large store. She suffered from 
brevity of speech; and always blushed when she was spoken to. 
In this case, as has been shown by autopsies in other similar 
cases, the “speech center” was unable to function sufficiently 
to give her the words required for the necessary conversation of 
her position. Some young men, and men, are almost speechless. 
Many girls are thus afflicted; and the cure is sought by sending 
them to schools where they must learn to talk; but when this is 
a disease, the remedy must be sought in a reform of the con¬ 
dition. There are silent men, so-called; and some silent women. 
In one case in the South a husband told his wife to shut up and 
never open her mouth again. Although he repented of his re¬ 
buke, she never spoke a word after that. When she died, the 
autopsy showed that her brain was normal, but that the shock 
of the rebuke had caused a local paralysis of the meninges near 
the “speech center,” and that there was a general abnormal 
condition of the whole membrane. 

10. How much one should talk, and how much one should re- 


59 


Wonders of the Brain 

frain from talking, is a matter of judgment and education. If 
the judgment is sound the amount of talking will suit exactly the 
requirements of each situation. Sound judgment means every¬ 
thing to a man or woman who wishes to win the respect of 
others and to exercise an influence over them. Too much talk 
ruins many an opportunity for a successful encounter with life; 
and too little talk is often as unlucky. A dealer in automobiles 
employed a young man as a sales agent, and sent him out with a 
new car to demonstrate it to a prospective buyer. The young 
man drove about for a number of miles; and when he got back 
he made an effort to conclude the sale by the remark: 11 Some 
gas buggy.”—The man did not buy. In this case three words 
were not enough to induce the man to make the purchase. So 
we find extremes in the use of the greatest of all gifts, the 
faculty of speech. 

Between the chattering idiot who talks without expressing an 
idea and the dummy who has no idea to express, there are many 
grades of failure in the use of language; the over-voluble per¬ 
son is credited with very little sense; and the “too numb to talk” 
variety is regarded as empty-headed. Neither can ever become 
the standard bearer of civilization. 


A SOUND JUDGMENT 

We have shown that there is one section of the brain that is 
devoted to the faculty of speech both spoken and written. 

We have shown that this requires a normal portion of the brain 
in order to convey intelligent ideas; but that it is controlled by 
the meninges that drive that portion of the brain. 

In another part, allied to it, and more central, with spreading 
influences in all directions, is a section devoted to the exercise 
of a SOUND JUDGMENT. We have chosen this term because 
it comes nearest to the fact of any that is available and that could 
be understood. 

A SOUND JUDGMENT is a faculty that is clear, is free from 
obscurity, is keen to see things that should be said and done, 
knows when it is improper to say or do a thing, knows how far 
to go in each remark and in each act in the daily proceedings of 
life, and is in fact incapable of error. 


60 


Brain Tests 


This seems like a large claim, but we shall show that it is true. 

We shall also show that more than sixty percent of humanity 
are almost totally lacking in sound judgment; a fact that is open 
to everyday proof as one goes among humanity. We shall fur¬ 
ther show that of the remaining forty percent or less, less than 
three are possessed of a really sound judgment. 

If the following combination or “team” could be harnessed 
together, the result would be an almost instantaneous rise in 
civilization that would sweep the earth with a power that could 
accomplish anything anywhere for the benefit of humanity, and 
would bring untold blessings to the race. 

1. Normal or healthy membranes. 

2. Normal “Sound Judgment” section of the brain. 

When we say that it is the purpose of this course of training 

to bring about the coordination of these two greatest powers in 
all existence, it seems like a large promise; but we have been at 
work for more than forty years along these lines, have tested 
them in private for a long time, and know the possibilities in 
each class of cases. The summary of the Two Processes is as 
follows: 

1. The Membranes can be made normal by treatment such as 
restores any part of the body to a normal condition, or state of 
health; the treatment to be adapted to this special work of course* 

2. A Sound Judgment is first based on the first process just 
mentioned, and then proceeds to its attainment by rigid train¬ 
ing, such as follows in this book. 

There can be no doubt as to the results. 

Before we proceed with the Two Processes let us look into 
the history of human judgment, and note wherein it errs in 
many ways: 

1. *A financier who has enough wealth to support himself, his 
family, and his children and grandchildren, still goes on with 
his heart-breaking toil to amass more wealth. When he has ac¬ 
quired enough, if his judgment were sound, he would know that 
he had enough; but being unsound in that particular, he believes 
that the more one gets the more he wants to get. This doctrine 
has kept a large part of the mercantile world in chaos. 

2. A broker dies of heart failure before he is fifty, and be¬ 
fore he has been able to enjoy his millions. He is told by his 
physician that his heart will not stand the strain, yet he keeps 


Wonders of the Brain 


61 


going long after he has no need of the added riches. His judg¬ 
ment may be sound as to the methods of acquiring mastery over 
investors; but it is unsound in the matter of his health, his 
happiness and the happiness of his family. 

3. A speculator devotes his genius to wrecking the fortunes 
of his fellow beings, causing untold suffering and anguish; he 
sees the humble homes of his victims swept away; he brings 
crash after crash down on the heads of those whom he has caught 
in his toils; all the while not needing the money that he obtains 
by such methods. That he is capable of living in content, shows 
him to belong to the type of the cat that has swallowed the pet 
canary bird; he has followed a blind instinct of gain by robbery 
and often by murder. 

4. Practically all ill health, sickness and disease, not due to 
inherited taint, can be traced to the lack of sound judgment. 
Ninety accidents out of every hundred are easily so traced. The 
abuse of the stomach to gratify some craving, as in improper 
foods and drinks, has no other origin than in an unsound 
judgment. 

5. We need not seek our examples among the lower sixty 
percent of humanity, including the submerged tenth, and the 
half-submerged fifty percent, for we know that their poverty and 
distress are due to a total lack of sound judgment, leaving them 
grovelling in failure and penury. Their condition can be bet¬ 
tered only after the forty percent above them have learned the 
lesson of life, and found the way to profit by its teachings; then 
their influence will work downward slowly but surely. In time 
it is possible to wipe out almost all poverty and ignorance with 
their attendant distress and suffering. But it can be done only 
through the development of a clear mind acting by the agency 
of a sound judgment in every operation of human existence. 
Whether poverty is due to ill health, or ill health is due to 
poverty, makes no difference, as both are traceable to lack of 
sound judgment somewhere in the past history of every case. 

6. Marriages that have led to divorces have been ill-advised, 
which means they have been due to lack of judgment. Like the 
man who eats what he craves and ruins his health, so that man 
who is impelled by desire falls into the marriage trap and ruins 
his happiness. 

7. The man who gambles lacks all percentage of sound judg- 


62 


Brain Tests 


ment; he does not possess even the fraction of one percent. If 
he did he would see that the worship of the god of chance was 
the lowest form of idolatry in the world. If he secures a living 
in any way, it is done by animal cunning, like any beast of prey; 
and this is found in the lowest dregs of civilization. There are 
millions of men who obtain their living by animal cunning, not 
by any rule of civilization. When such men are in the majority, 
the world deteriorates. 

8. Dishonesty is always based on unsound judgment; yet 
where shall we look for men and women who are strictly honest ? 
Who does not lie at times ? Who does not make undue profits ? 
Who does not seek advantage in bargaining ? If a person were 
to be controlled by that clearness of mind that denotes sound 
judgment, honesty would prevail not only as the best policy, but 
by its inherent value. 

9. Every vice is due to the same lack of judgment; and yet 
vices bring more distress, suffering and anguish to the world 
than any other cause. Who does not have some vicious habit? 
Who is free from cravings that must be satisfied through the 
adoption of vice ? Why would ninety percent of the race perish 
in the next twenty years if there were no restrictions against 
the misuse of drugs, narcotics, stimulants and libertinism? 
These forms of slavery are attractive to men and women with 
diseased meninges, or brain linings. Let such organs be whole, 
normal and in perfect health, and all vices would melt away as 
degrading and repulsive; for a sound judgment would not tol¬ 
erate them. 

10. Credulous people, by some sort of mental twist, believe 
things that are wrong and disbelieve things that are right. 
Their over-suspicious nature bears against the right way of do¬ 
ing things; yet they fall into all manner of schemes and de¬ 
vices that have been constructed for their downfall. Take the 
case of a school teacher who, by severe self-denial through many 
years, has saved up a few thousand dollars for old age needs; 
yet who is allured by the promises of vendors of shares in oil 
wells, mines, and all sorts of ‘ 1 sure thing” enterprises, and parts 
with her life-savings never to see any of it again; interest, divi¬ 
dends and principal all vanished into thin air. It is known 
that more than one hundred thousand teachers have fallen into 
this kind of trap, and always through lack of sound judgment. 


Wonders of the Brain 


63 


11. The silly things that are done by women who send 
money to advertisers for schemes to earn money at home, would 
hardly be believed if published. Of all the claims made in the 
various classes of advertisements, not one is fulfilled to the 
letter; and most of them are never fulfilled except far enough 
to escape the law; while thousands of such advertisers are be¬ 
ing pursued by the government, and move from city to city, 
and take on name after name to keep up their business of ex¬ 
tracting money from people who lack judgment. When Barnum 
said that the American people like to be cheated, he confessed 
the chief motive of his business, although he gave value to a 
very large extent. 

12. If you were to collect the histories of the great financiers 
and bankers who have amassed fortunes, and then have bar¬ 
tered away their happiness in love affairs with adventuresses, 
often being led to their financial ruin by the feminine gender, 
you would be surprised at the number of men who have had 
enough animal cunning to get rich, but not enough sound judg¬ 
ment to escape their Waterloos at the hands of intriguing 
women. 

13. If a girl under twenty marries a man of wealth over 
eighty, which one displays lack of sound judgment? Would 
the girl have married him if he had been poor but honest? 
Would the man have married her if he knew that she was led 
into the affair because of his money? Yet here are two facts 
that are ignored. How many such marriages have proved 
worth while unless a kind angel removed the octogenarian very 
soon after the ceremony, and left the maiden his vast wealth? 

14. Make a list of all the fashions that you have seen come 
and go with women since you can first recall them; and tell 
yourself how many of them have been instigated by poor judg¬ 
ment, or lack of plain common sense. The women excuse them¬ 
selves on the ground that they are slaves to fashion; but the 
same claim to exemption would furnish an excuse to the 
gambler, to the drinker, to the addict of the drug habit, and to 
any other class who do foolish things because they must keep 
in the current. When a girl or woman with a rotten, or 
syphilitic skin, paints it over with rouge and coats it with 
powder, there is a real excuse, a real display of judgment; but 
when a fair faced female does the same thing, the reverse is 


64 


Brain Tests 


true, for most men now are educated to regard all painted fe¬ 
males as possessing rotten or syphilitic skins; and are fast 
learning to avoid them for fear of contamination. 

OBTAIN A BLANK BOOK and in its pages write once each 
day. The matter to be written is some episode or action on 
the part of some person who has displayed lack of sound judg¬ 
ment. Or instead you may enter a brief account of some gen¬ 
eral lack of sound judgment that prevails among the people. 
These entries will serve to train your own mind into the ob¬ 
servation and analysis of the conduct of human nature; and 
every instance of bad judgment that comes to your attention 
will straighten out your own mind and create a tendency to 
avoid such errors in your own life. 

Occasionally some man claims to possess an unusual fund of 
good judgment; or to use his own term, “horse sense.” But 
does he? It is true that he cannot be wheedled into the doing 
of things that seem foolish or vapid; but in what he eats, drinks 
and indulges in for amusement, he is far from the zone of 
good sense. A hard-headed bank president knew how to make 
money by almost every deal he entered into; in loans, trades, 
purchases and sales, he came out ahead of his fellow beings; 
and people pointed to him as the man who knew what he was 
about. The fact was that his success was based on animal cun¬ 
ning and not on sound judgment. Not many years elapsed 
ere he was buying off an adventuress with a check for one 
million dollars; a coarse female who had induced him to marry 
her. Had he been a man of sound judgment he would have 
found ways of learning her history, which was as unsavory as 
could be imagined. Much of his million dollar fund had been 
wrung out of small home owners whose ruin meant nothing to 
the hard-headed bank president; yet he parted with that large 
sum merely for the selfish purpose of freeing himself from a 
bad woman. This kind of history has been repeated many 
thousands of times in this country. 

These are merely typical episodes. The world is full of evi¬ 
dences of unsound judgment; and until it rids itself of this 
mental blight it cannot progress. Common sense is such a 
rare quality that the prediction has been made many times 
that the whole drift of humanity is downward, and that ulti¬ 
mately the race will be blotted out. 


bonders of the Brain 


65 


In this course of training we speak for a better civilization. 

We have stated in a prior page that two things, acting to¬ 
gether as one influence, would raise humanity almost instantly 
to the highest pinnacle of power; and these we will state again 
in this place: 

1. The meninges or membranes must be made normal and 
healthy. 

2. The section of the brain where the zone of “Sound Judg¬ 
ment” is located, must be made normal. 

To accomplish the first result, recourse must be had to the 
teachings and system of the book of Complete Life Building 
of which the present work is a Post-Graduate or after Course. 
The specific lines of training prescribed in that book are the 
following: 

The True Foods for cleansing and purifying the blood. 

The Magnetic Bath for developing natural electrical vi¬ 
tality; for it is well known that the thinking powers are all 
electrical. 

Double-Range Respiration for bringing to the brain and men¬ 
inges the needed quantity of natural oxygen, which is always 
lacking in most persons. 

These treatments are not only pleasing but are exceedingly 
attractive in their speedy results. Having made use of them, 
you are now ready to go into those TESTS that determine the 
degree of mental clearness and power to perceive the true 
course to pursue in every action, great and small, in your 
daily experiences. 

Life Building will give you normal, healthy brain conditions 
and brain control. 

The TESTS will train your mind to see clearly. 

In the first work of the TESTS your actual present place in 
the scale of civilization will be determined. 

As the training proceeds, the TESTS will develop in you 
the power to recognize your shortcomings in the attempt to ex¬ 
ercise a sound judgment; will clear your mind; will impart 
strength to your control over the drift of your brain; and 
will soon produce results in your life, so that you will steadily 
rise in the scale of civilization. 

This is the most important step to be taken in any life that 
is worth living. 


FOURTH SECTION 


SECOND GRAND DIVISION 
IN THE SCALE OF CIVIL¬ 
IZATION DECISION 



B WILL MAKE CLEAR TO THE STUDENT 
of these lessons the purpose of offering TESTS 
by which to determine the present place of 
each person in the scale of civilization. What 
a person’s mind is, that person is. Value is 
not appraised because of a strong body harbor¬ 
ing an imbecile mind. Some of the greatest men and women 
of history have had frail bodies, some crippled and bed-ridden, 
yet have had superb minds and have been accorded a high place 
in the estimation of the world. But the reverse is never true. 
A mad giant is a being to be shunned. 

Mental value is ascertained by what it is able to perceive, 
and therefore able to accept and act upon. But perception is 
the real determining gauge of the mind, and therefore of 
civilization. 

There are many divisions of human activities. It is our pur¬ 
pose to mingle with them; to take you with us and analyze 
them; to look into their value, their motives, and their achieve¬ 
ments. Some persons believe that if they look into crystal 
glass they can see what is going on in the world and what is 
about to happen. We do not teach that practice; but we do 
claim that a wonderful clearness may be developed in the mind 
by which the value of every human activity and experience can 
be measured; and, by its influence, this clearness will expose 
the folly of 999 activities out of every thousand, and yet show 
the true course to be pursued. 








































Second Grand Division 


67 


It is a Law that when the meninges are flooded with impure 
blood they throw into the brain a muddy mucus; and as thought 
is carried on by this flow of mucus, its character and quality 
cannot be better than its source. 

As this mucus becomes clear, thought becomes clear. 

When thought is not clear, the result is inaccurate brain ac¬ 
tion, which prevents true brain action, and sets up erratic 
judgment; hence arise the errors that mark the lives of most peo¬ 
ple, and bring faults into the foreground of all human activities. 

A mind that has dwelt in the muddy vesture of unsound judg¬ 
ment needs not only the clearing power of health in the brain 
and its surroundings, but must start at the beginning of things 
and build itself a new world of power. To do so requires train¬ 
ing in order that the habits of seeing clearly the right apart 
from the wrong in every life experience may be found in the 
manner that nature intended at first. 

THE SCALE OF CIVILIZATION 

In this study we call that range of mental clearness that is 
able to discern what should be done in every instance as dis¬ 
tinguished from that which is done, the Scale of Civilization. 

This Scale runs from ZERO to 100 percent. 

There are many Tests that permit a grading along this Scale; 
some as low as five percent; some as high as ninety or a hun¬ 
dred; and these added together after the first application of 
these Tests will determine just where you belong in this Scale, if 
all the percentages are averaged. This is done by taking the 
gross sum and dividing it by the number of Tests. 

When time has elapsed, and the same Tests are repeated, if 
it shall be found that your brain has grown clearer under the 
training and with the aid of the physical health of the menin¬ 
ges, then the percentages will again be added together and 
the sum divided by their number, to determine how far you 
have progressed upward. Thus it may be found that your 
place is about twenty percent as the result of the first applica¬ 
tion; forty percent later on; sixty percent eventually; and still 
higher afterwards. 

THE ZERO TEST alone can prevent you from rising at all. 

This means that, no matter what may be your standing in 


68 


Brain Tests 


other departments, if you are at nothing in the one most im¬ 
portant and most vital Test, all else is swept away, and you will 
remain at nothing. To explain fully what is required to get 
away from Zero, we will state that the mind must he alert 
enough to decide upon some course of action in life. The 
tramp mind is lower than the lowest dregs of civilization. Its 
decision is a negative one; for it decides to avoid all activity 
that can be avoided, and to accomplish no more than is strictly 
necessary to keep alive. 

The TRAMP MIND leads only to barbarism and degradation. 

It is the mind that has no decision of an affirmative character. 

If you possess such a mind, you are at ZERO in the scale of 
civilization, and you will remain at ZERO until your body rests 
under the sod. 

DECISION must be made along some line of human 
advancement. 

These lines are presented in all the TESTS that follow this 
one. By deciding to make one or more of these tests you at 
once begin to rise from zero, for there can be no decision worth 
making that does not enlist your interest in some proper phase 
of existence. When your interest begins to be manifested in 
any one of the Tests that follow, then you begin to move up 
the scale, and leave Zero behind, let us hope, forever. 

What is the ZERO MIND ? 

We see examples of it all around us. It is based on the will¬ 
ingness to “let some other fellow do it,” or on the theory that 
you are not needed, as there are enough others without you; 
or on the other theory that it is none of your business as there 
are plenty of others who are interested more than you are. 

The very common example is found on election day. The 
ZERO MIND says “What is the use of my going to the polls? 
I have only one vote. There has never been an election in this 
part of the world that was decided by one vote; therefore my 
vote is not needed.” Yes, but there are hundreds of ZERO 
MINDS besides yours; each argues the same way; and it is 
these hundreds of lost votes that throw the election into the 
hands of the scum element. Did it ever occur to you that the 
scum element is bribed by one kind of influence or another to 
go to the polls on every election day, in every kind of weather, 
and that bribery is the tool of low animal cunning; while the 


Second Grand Division 


69 


decent element, of which you are or might be a notable example, 
let the ZERO MIND control them. It cost something in blood 
and sacrifice to win the right to go to the polls; and this liberty 
is regarded as of such trifling value by the stay-at-homes that 
only a ZERO MIND could suggest such indifference. 

In every corner grocery, or country store, on almost any 
night, there are men who perceive all the wrongs and burdens 
that enslave the great masses and they speak eloquently, even 
if violently, on the conditions that permit such wrongs and bur¬ 
dens ; but if you ask any one of them to do the only intelligent 
thing that will make such wrongs and such burdens forever 
impossible, which is to wipe out all politics and all politicians, 
not one will lift a finger; they show the ZERO MIND. In 
secret caves, dens, holes and back room saloons, there are gath¬ 
ered the same nights, men with blood in their eyes and fire in 
their hearts, who teach and preach their way of ending these 
wrongs and burdens, which is to destroy the edifice of the 
government that has been built in nobler blood; they would 
burn the palace in order to kill the rats; they would throw the 
dog into the burning oil in order to slay his fleas; for they 
are rats in mind, rats in heart, and move to their ends with 
only the animal stealth of rats. Had they something higher 
in their nature than the ZERO MIND they would end the 
wrongs and burdens by the only method that will ever become 
effective; which is to wipe out forever all politics and all 
politicians. 

Seeing a wrong, and lifting no helping hand to remove it, 
is typical of all haranguers, of all soap-box orators, of all fault¬ 
finders, and of all agitators except the rats referred to. The 
great hold that agitators who preach destruction of government, 
have on the people is their truthful assertion that gross wrongs 
exist; such assertions are so easily proved and applauded, that 
almost any kind of a revolution can be engendered by firebrand 
orators talking to rat-minded men and women. This is not 
civilization; it is animal cunning. If it were civilization it 
would show the one true way to right all wrongs; a way that is 
so plain to a mind not down to the ZERO point that it can be 
read far and wide. 

DECISION to take an interest in the vital activities of life, 
which are presented in their completeness in the TESTS that 


70 


Brain Tests 


follow this one, will at once raise you in the scale of civilization. 
Then you will not be the prey of rats. You will not join an 
army whose purpose is to remove wrongs by destruction of the 
things that are wronged. You will see that the victims of 
wrongs need protection; agitators instead of protecting such 
victims, plan to destroy them on the theory that when the vic¬ 
tims are destroyed there will be nothing left for the wrongs 
to feed upon. This fair land with its millions of people who 
are burdened and oppressed, must be destroyed, say these agi¬ 
tators of the rat minds; then all wrongs will disappear. On 
the same theory there are no ills to be endured on the ice¬ 
bound orb that shines by reflected light on this globe. 

The power to get money, even wealth, does not denote civili¬ 
zation; for we have in all lines of business and bargaining the 
rat mind at work reaping where it does not sow. Brokers, 
financiers, profiteers and all their ilk who have accumulated 
money by ruining their victims or robbing the people, are 
merely examples of rat minds, all at ZERO in the scale of 
civilization. 

Any man whose purpose in living is to amuse himself, feed 
himself, clothe himself, house himself, and store away all he can 
take from his fellow beings, who cares nothing for the progress 
of humanity, and is willing for someone else to do the things 
that are given him to do as payment for the privilege of living, 
is of the ZERO MIND; and if he is smart in his practice of get¬ 
ting wealth and advantage, he is merely rat-minded. If the 
world had contained a solid population of just such men, it 
would be today where it was when the prehistoric race drifted 
hither and thither over its surface. 

Every man and woman has a duty to perform, and that is to 
participate in the activities of existence that are analyzed in 
the TESTS that follow this introductory subject. 

To say that “one man’s influence is only a drop in the 
bucket,” or some similar excuse for indifference, is to show 
that the mind dwells in the very dregs of civilization, far be¬ 
low ZERO. To be willing that someone other than yourself 
shall move in a certain matter that needs attention for the 
good of the race, is to show the same defect. It does not require 
a keen mind to perceive that if all men and all women adopted 
the same attitude, a blight blacker than universal night would 


Second Grand Division 


71 


come down on the world. If here and there some man or woman 
evinces an interest in the doing of something that is necessary 
for the safety of the race, to that extent is light given to the 
hope of civilization; if more men and women are aroused to 
take an interest in such matters, the hope that dawned, rises 
above the horizon; but if no one cares, if each individual is 
willing that someone else shall do all the work in the better 
cause, then the world will have slunk back into those dark 
ages that enveloped it for the many centuries that preceded 
the era of the renaissance. There were not less than fifteen hun¬ 
dred years in Europe of sheer stupidity even amidst some 
display of intelligence; and in this long period every man was 
for himself and his appetites. Not one ray of civilization 
crept into the blackness of the most stupid ignorance that 
the mind of man can conceive. 

It is only in proportion as men and women take up the work 
of progress that there can be any hope for humanity. Nature 
everywhere decrees its purpose of progress, and waits on man 
to carry it forward. The slogan of dead interest is constantly 
uttered, “Let some other fellow do it.” How a thinking hu¬ 
man being can approach the time when the grave is about to 
open and swallow up his worthless life, without wondering why 
he was born, why the bounties of earth were provided to feed 
him, and why he had been given opportunities unlimited for 
repaying those bounties by taking up the challenge to aid the 
great work of progress, is the marvel of the mind of man. To 
have lived in vain, is worse than not to have lived at all. To 
have gone through all the years uselessly, is a most pitiable 
failure. There is one outstanding and outshining glory, and 
that is that life has not been lived in vain. 

The idle rich, stung to the quick by the emptiness of existence, 
when they find that wealth does not bring satisfaction, try ail 
sorts of substitutes for the right thing. It becomes the fashion 
to go slumming, to visit among the poor, to contribute to charity, 
and numerous other things, all of which are wide of the mark,-—’ 
the advance of civilization. They never analyze life; but follow 
only the drift of fashion in their efforts to atone for past years 
of indifference. Thousands of such people have been ap¬ 
proached with the information that their belated interest in hu¬ 
manity is misdirected, and they have been shown what they 


72 Brain Tests 

should do; but one and all they give the same answer, “Let 
someone else do that.” 

DECISION is the corner stone of the structure of civilization. 

Its enemy is Indifference; and Indifference takes by the 
throat every good impulse in the heart, every desire to do one’s 
part in life so as to avert the death-bed grieving that one 
has lived in vain, that one has been only in the way in the 
world, and will go out of it in the same role of nothing, to the 
oblivion. You cannot be nothing while on earth and something 
afterwards. If you are incapable of deciding to take a vivid 
interest in the activities of life, which are embodied in the 
many TESTS that follow, you will have been nothing in the 
world, and will go out of it in the same role of nothing, to the 
same fate of nothing forever. Earthly existence is either a 
trivial joke, or else it is something that is serious and earnest. 
What shall be your status hereafter is determined by the 
status that you make for yourself here. 

DECISION is the First Test of your earthly status. 

By DECISION is meant the determination on your part to 
engage in the activities of life, to analyze them, and to assist 
in adjusting them to the needs of humanity. The means of so 
engaging in these activities will be provided as the main work 
of this training course. 

Better get a blank book and enter in its pages a progressive 
history of yourself. 

If you are unable to rouse in yourself an interest in the 
Tests that follow, mark your status at the bottom of the scale of 
civilization, at ZERO. But if at any time in the future, you 
realize that your life is being lived in vain, and that its greatest 
triumphs are emptiness, then turn back to this part of the book 
and see if you can get a start that will warrant you crediting 
yourself with a rank above ZERO. 

ADVICE.—If your mind is closed against the doctrine of do¬ 
ing your share in the world, instead of “letting the other fellow 
do it all , 9 7 then it is fair to you to say that this book should end 
at this page for you. 

What follows, the many TESTS that analyze the activities 
of existence will be a dead sea to your mind, and a burden to 
your heart; just as the love of useful endeavor is tiresome to 
the selfish or indifferent person. 


FIFTH SECTION 


TEMPLE OF LIFE 

STUDENTS WILL RECALL our promise 
make use of the activities of life for the pur¬ 
se of analyzing life itself, in the tests that 
3 to determine the place of every man and 
man in the scale of civilization. This is the 
ly real way of reaching the results desired, 
for the mind is the basis of civilization, and as such is built by 
the activities that make up all forms of human progress. It 
is a fortunate method that will deal directly with the experi¬ 
ences that make up both mind and body, and all that these 
two in combination are able to accomplish. 

A TEST is the proof that the meninges of the brain are nor¬ 
mal; that instead of being muddy with poisoned mucus, they 
are clear enough to take on the work of mental perception. 
Therefore if you are not equipped to see with clearness the truth 
in any TEST, your first work is to establish the physical health, 
and then the electrical health of the meninges. The first three 
Sections of this book will guide you in this proceeding. Until 
you have normal health in this regard, you will see nothing 
whatever in any test. They will be as muddy to your mental 
vision as is the mucus of the meninges, for it is through this 
mucus that you see everything in the mind, or do all thinking, 
and by it you control every thought and operation of the brain 
itself. 

If the meaning and truth of the TEST now in hand shall be 
perfectly apparent to you and perfectly clear in its importance 

73 










































74 


Brain Tests 


and bearing on your own value to the world as well as to your¬ 
self, then you will achieve the full percentage allotted to it, 
which is stated at the end of this Test. If the meaning and 
truth are not perfectly apparent to you, then the percentage 
will be reckoned accordingly. 

We come now to the Test entitled The Temple of Life. 

It is claimed that the human body is the highest form of cre¬ 
ation on earth, and that in it dwells the life that is bestowed 
on man. 

It is also claimed that man is immortal, and that in his body 
the immortal part dwells in fact, or in its seed. 

In view of these two claims it would seem obvious that the 
human body is a Temple. If this is the fact, then as a Temple 
having tenants so great, it is entitled to study and to care of 
the highest order. But the care it has had has been based on 
ignorance, superstition and error. The mysterious rites and 
incantations by which priests worked supposed cures, were the 
height of foolish superstition. The practice of bleeding to get 
rid of blood poisons brought into the body by improper food, 
was the child of ignorance. The use of physics today to purge 
the poisons out of the body, is just as inconsistent a method 
of cure as bleeding and is founded on the same principle ex¬ 
actly. Fasting is another form of bleeding, although people do 
not know it. To weaken a person already weak, by depriving 
him of nutrition, is the same thing reversed, as drawing off 
nutrition in flowing blood. The use of poisonous plants, and 
poisonous chemicals to fight one class of poisons with another, 
is just as wrong in principle as the superstitious rites and de¬ 
mented incantations of the priests. The fact is we are not far 
removed from the savagery of prehistoric times. 

To treat the Temple of Life in any such manner is like taking 
lessons in the Chamber of Horrors and transferring their teach¬ 
ings to a system of guesswork in the hope that the patient may 
survive the ordeal. 

The TEST is this: 

Here is a body of flesh; the flesh is made of blood; the blood 
is made of food. Perfect flesh cannot develop or carry disease 
of any kind; as has been amply proved. Perfect blood cannot 
build anything but perfect flesh. Imperfect food cannot build 
perfect blood. There are fourteen elements required to make 


75 


Temple of Life 

perfect blood; people take in more than twice as many. There 
should be about nineteen combinations of the Fourteen Ele¬ 
ments; but people take in more than eighty combinations. 

When elements and combinations that are not needed to make 
blood and flesh are taken in the body, a disturbance follows in 
which by all sorts of maladies Nature tries to throw off the ex¬ 
cess. This is sickness. There is no other source of disease ex¬ 
cept inherited blood taint coming down from some ancestor who 
has abused the Temple of Life. 

You visit a chemist and give him an order to make for you 
a certain compound in which there are a certain number of 
elements, in certain proportions, and of certain kinds. He 
disobeys your formula; he adds one or two elements not called 
for; and the result is a deformed or useless mixture. Once 
again you start him on the order, and this time he omits one 
or two of the necessary elements; with the result that the mix¬ 
ture is abnormal, or not what you called for. Still again he 
makes a compound but uses the same number of elements that 
you requested, but not the same kind; and the result is the 
worst of all. His creation is diseased because it is disordered. 
And this is all the human body is when it is sick. 

Civilization is the fruit of clear mental supremacy and sound 
judgment; and we ask you to settle in your own mind the 
question, are we living in an era of civilization when there are 
three million doctors in the land; nearly one million drug stores; 
over five thousand million dollars invested in making drugs and 
medicines for sick people; over three billion surgical instru¬ 
ments sharpened for cutting disease out of the body; an endless 
array of hospitals, with surgeons and nurses enough to people 
a whole State; and suffering, distress, pain, premature death, 
all entailing vast but useless expenditures of money? And the 
one simple, sole cause is this: The mind of mankind has not 
yet grasped the one fact that the body never develops disease 
when fed with perfect blood made from the fourteen elements 
ordained by Nature. 

Why will people take in food elements that are poisons to the 
body? For every particle of matter that is not used in making 
blood is foreign to it, and that is what is meant by poisons. 
Why, when nineteen combinations build a perfect body, will 
people take in seventy or eighty? Why will they suffer pain, 


76 


Brain Tests 


go through long sieges of sickness, spend all their savings and 
waste much of their time, enduring and fighting diseases that 
are plainly the result of eating and drinking non-food elements ? 

They may set up the defense that they do not know what 
are and what are not the needed elements for making perfect 
health. Very well, now that we have called their attention to 
the matter, they cannot in the future, as far as our instruction 
has gone among them, fall back upon the excuse of ignorance; 
all that is left them is the status of the ZERO MIND described 
fully in the preceding Section. If they choose not to care, they 
are at ZERO, and there they will stay until they do choose to 
care. We are talking about a civilization that can rise out of 
the ashes of the dead present. If people will continue to 
choose not to care, then our work fails, and there is nothing 
left but to embrace the theory being taught elsewhere that we 
stand on the brink of universal decadence, with the race rapidly 
plunging into the chaos of the dark ages, and through the bottom 
of that era into the barbarism of prehistoric blackness. The 
trend of the mind of man seems to warrant one conclusion or 
the other: either that humanity will wake up, shake off its don’t 
care attitude, and rise to grandeur, as it can easily do by sus¬ 
taining the TESTS that follow in this work; or else, on the 
other hand, it will go on down the grade on which it is now 
toboganning, and return to the oblivion of barbarism through 
the teachings and influence of the agitators of anarchy. 

SOUND JUDGMENT, which is the key to a high civiliza¬ 
tion, certainly speaks in no uncertain tones and says: “Protect 
the Temple of Life by making it a perfect body through the 
use of the materials that alone can make it a perfect body.” 
Avoid all others, as foreign to its needs, and hence as poisons 
that set up disease in countless forms. 

When you have decided to follow the precepts of SOUND 
JUDGMENT, you are entitled to a credit of 

THIRTY PERCENT FOR THIS PART OF THE STUDY. 


This credit is to be recorded by you in some book where all 
subsequent records will be entered so that you may at the end 
ascertain your standing and find your place in the scale of 
civilization. 




Temple of Life 


77 


EXPERIENCES 

In order to mingle with every phase of life it is necessary to 
include man himself, and his entire history as a being from the 
hour of birth to that of death. This course of training is 
coextensive with the whole scope of existence; and nothing will 
be omitted. We began with a study of the physical body itself 
and its needs; showing the value of building it perfectly. We 
now assume that the being to be known as man has just been 
born, and lies in helplessness in its cradle. 

Shut from it all light, and it will become blind. Close against 
it all noise and it will become deaf. Keep from it all evidences 
of activity on the part of others, and it will remain a child 
all its years. If it is to be a man with a grown brain, it 
must develop that organ by what are known as experiences. 
There are five first senses. Nature attends to the sense of taste, 
and so feeds the infant. The sense of smell waits for a while. 
The sense of touch takes on action by degrees. Sight is the 
first real sense to follow taste; the latter being instinctive, and 
sight being brain-making. Taste would continue all the years of 
life because it is controlled by instinct; but sight would not be 
developed unless there were things to see and to observe. 

Civilization is built by the made brain of humanity. 

Experiences beginning with the earliest infancy and continu¬ 
ing all through life are brain-making. 

The first of these is instigated by sight. The eyes of the babe 
watch the bright lights and objects; and later on become inter¬ 
ested in bright colors. After a while they take note of faces, 
then of objects, notably of the sources of their food supply; one 
of which may be the bottle of made milk, or infant food. Each 
such act is an experience, and the brain begins to be made. If 
these things are omitted, the brain remains smooth, and the child 
grows up an idiot. Therefore it is well proved that sanity and 
brain power are the accumulated experiences of the span of life. 

Sounds do their share in this work of development. 

Then the privilege of handling things, such as toys, plays a 
very important part in the same work. 

The brain grows fast when the activities are many and varied; 
and the brightest children come from association with an excess 
of activities, while the dullest come from the dearth of such 


78 


Brain Tests 


activities. A child left to itself too much, and deprived of play¬ 
things, will grow up a dullard. The brain is so flexible that it 
may be made into almost any degree of brilliance and power 
by crowding its experiences. 

In the first few years the child will encounter opposition and 
disappointments. It will learn that there are other interests 
than itself in the world, and that other beings have desires and 
needs that overlap its own, with the result that many emotions 
will be given birth that will take a strong hold on all its future 
existence. Every one of these will build some part of its brain. 
The more of them that it can retain and absorb, the greater will 
be its brain growth and power. 

After a few years it will find many facts printed in books and 
disclosed in pictures that will serve as its own personal experi¬ 
ences ; and they are in fact of the same value, although they are 
taken from the activities of other lives. If it reads history, it 
will live in the episodes of the nations as they are described. If 
it learns lessons from school books, it will absorb the facts taught 
as though they were its own experiences. Every such event that 
commands the attention of its mind will be drawn into the fiber 
of its brain, and become a part of the contents, depending on 
how much of it is retained in the memory. 

This accumulation of experience is knowledge; and when such 
knowledge is used properly it becomes intelligence. 

If the child never encountered experiences it would have no 
knowledge, and would be totally lacking in intelligence. It 
would be an idiot. It is what you have experienced, and how 
much of such value that you have retained that determines how 
much you know; and it is how you use what you know that 
determines what degree of intelligence you possess. 

In other words, there are two divisions: 

1. What you retain out of life’s experiences is your knowledge. 

2. What use you make of your knowledge is your intelligence. 

Knowledge is lodged in the convolutions of the brain itself. 

Intelligence is the activity of the meninges directing and con¬ 
trolling the brain convolutions. This division, in another form, 
has been shown in the Third Section of this book. 

If your brain is whole, normal, and in health, it is capable 
of yielding its knowledge as called upon to do so. 

If your meninges are clear, and the electric mucus that oper- 


79 


Temple of Life 

ates thought is clean, clear and normal, you are at the zenith 
of civilization, at the top rung, ONE HUNDRED PERCENT 
in the scale of civilization. 

But it is important that you know by what process you get 
there. As a child with a blank brain you came into the 
world; and what you are is not dependent on what you were 
so much as what you have acquired since coming into this 
sphere of existence. You are the sum total of your accumulated 
experiences. You are of earth, for all the intelligence that you 
possess has been the outgrowth of earthly experiences. 

The great question now arises, What is the quality of in¬ 
telligence that has been born of human activities? 

Can the fruit be greater than the seed ? Can your knowledge 
be better than its source? If it should be found so, then man 
must be godlike. But history shows that every mind is gauged 
and measured by the total qualities of the experiences that 
served to build it and develop it. 

Your brain, your mind, your personality, yourself, can be 
nothing more or less than the accumulated experiences that you 
have encountered; and you can do yourself and the world a 
service if you will guard and control all experiences that flow 
into your daily life. You can do the world a service of vast 
value if you study to shape and control the experiences of 
the growing child; for it will run to misconceptions of right 
and wrong in its conflicts and disappointments. 

It is for the purpose of securing complete control over these 
accumulated experiences that we teach the acquisition of 
SOUND JUDGMENT; and this can be attained only by train¬ 
ing the mind to see clearly the truth in all the problems of life. 

Are you able to perceive the truth in these claims that 
knowledge is the stored up experiences of all the past life put 
away in the brain for reference and use; and that intelligence 
is the thought action of the meninges directing and controlling 
the stored up knowledge; that man is what he has been all his 
life; and that in order to extract the truth from the mass of 
storage, it is necessary to develop and cultivate in the highest 
degree a SOUND JUDGMENT? 

If you can grasp this presentation of the great law of life, 
then you are permitted to give yourself a percentage of 
THIRTY PERCENT FOR THIS PART OF THE STUDY. 


80 


Brain Tests 


CAUSATION 

We come now to one of the most difficult laws to understand 
that can be found in any study. It will give you one hundred 
percent if you are able to grasp it. In order of difficulty it 
should have been held back to a later lesson; but as it belongs 
to the preceding Test, and is an outgrowth of it, we are placing 
it here, with the assurance that if your mind is clear and your 
status already high, you will grasp its truth on the first reading. 

Very few persons however are thus endowed; and some never 
understand it although it is a provable fact, and cannot be 
doubted by a clear brain. 

The preceding Tests deal with experiences as the only hu¬ 
man source of mind, knowledge and intelligence; what a man 
is depends on what experiences he has encountered and retained 
in the storage fund of his brain. 

Under the Test of CAUSATION we make the claim that 
everything that has happened in the life of a man or woman has 
had a cause. This is the whole story, but it leads quickly into 
deep water. Theology teaches that there must be a cause for 
everything except the First Great Cause. Logic tells the same 
fact. Human conduct, therefore, must of necessity be the re¬ 
sult of causes, which when formed in chains we call causation. 
All human conduct is the result solely of experiences that have 
gone before. 

As we have said, this statement and test are to be a very diffi¬ 
cult phase of our study. At first sight the assertion seems 
simple. As a statement only it presents nothing hard; but 
that is because it has been passed over in a superficial manner. 
We will proceed to analyze it. 

“All human conduct’’ embraces every act of the brain, nerves 
and body, from the smallest details to the greatest. 

The brain thinks; and its activities are known as thoughts; 
hence all thoughts are a part of human conduct; and as such 
have their origin solely in past experiences. This leads us into 
the deepest waters of analysis that can confront human investi¬ 
gation. You do not yet think so, but the next few pages will 
bring you to an overwhelming deluge of difficulties. 

Every thought, every feeling, every emotion, every plan, every 
deliberate act of the intelligence, every impulse of uncontrollable 


Thinking Faculties 81 

force, is a part of human conduct. These are not things but 
they are acts. It is an act to think; to feel; to suffer; to plan. 
But it is not a physical act; not something done with the mus¬ 
cles. Every voluntary physical act is thought put into motion; 
and must emanate from the brain. 

The phrase “is the result solely” contains two ideas; one of 
cause and the other of exclusiveness. That which is the result 
of anything is caused by that thing; and when it is the result 
solely of that cause, it has no other origin. 

The final term, “experiences that have gone before,” refers 
to contact with other activities than its own. In other words, 
its own activities are the results; and experiences the cause. 

We now find that every thought, every action of the intellect, 
as well as every deed performed, is each and everyone the re¬ 
sult of experiences of the past; and not coming from activities 
of its own creating, must be caused by other activities. This 
brings us into deeper water. 

Every thought, every action of the intellect, and every deed 
comprise all there is of life; all there is of living; all there is 
of existence on earth. This being true, then it follows that all 
there is of existence is the result of experiences that have gone 
before; the result of actual contact with human activities. The 
contact may occur in the lifetime of the individual, or may 
in part be traced or due to activities of some ancestors; but they 
are human activities whether inherited or engaged in during 
one’s lifetime. Inherited influences are only colorful, never 
direct; they sway the course of events only when life activities 
are present to be influenced; thus if two courses of action lay 
before a person, resulting from two lines of activities, and the 
choice must be made between the two, inherited influences may 
prevail or may not according to the pressure on the will power. 

Each person lives in thoughts and deeds. But included in 
thoughts are all feelings, emotions, plans and deliberations. 

All conscious deeds are the result of thoughts. If you strike 
a friend, and know nothing of the act, the deed had no thought 
instigating it as far as you can perceive; but it was really the 
fruit of unconscious brain action, so that it comes under the 
same head. Nothing can occur that is not included in thoughts 
and deeds; and every thought and deed is the result of experi¬ 
ences that have gone before. 


82 


Brain Tests 


This conclusion is forced on us, and there is no escape from it. 
It will stand every test of analysis. It brings us to a great 
law which says: 

NO THOUGHT AND NO DEED CAN CREATE ITSELF. 

It might be asserted that this law contains a self-evident 
truth; but just as soon as it is admitted to be self-evident, the 
whole fabric of human existence begins to tumble about our 
heads. The consequence is a cataclysm. When you are able 
to understand this law, and the fearful end to which it brings 
us, you will be in the closest touch with MIND; for only by 
possessing a keen and acutely sensitized sub-intellect can you 
grasp its meaning. 

No thought can create itself. Can it? If it can, then it can 
create the universe. Can it? 

No deed can create itself. Can it? If it can, then it is able 
to create a sun a million times larger than our own central orb 
of fire. C.an it? 

No human being can create thought. If he can, then he is 
omniscient. Is he? If he is, then he can tell the world that 
other worlds are peopled and by whom, what are their appear¬ 
ances and their occupations. He can say what is to be the des¬ 
tiny of this earth and its nations. 

No human being can create a deed. If he can then he is om¬ 
nipotent and is able to build the entire system of stars and 
planets in their glory. He can make the lily grow where only 
a barren rock exists. 

If no thought or deed can create itself, and if no human being 
can create a thought or a deed, then the TEST contains a self- 
evident truth: that all human conduct, meaning all thoughts 
and deeds, is the result solely of experiences that have gone 
before. 

The brain of man is the clearing-house of every thought and 
deed; but the brain of man is not endowed with the gift of 
supreme power. Man is not a Creator. He cannot make some¬ 
thing out of nothing. 

You are well advanced in this difficult study if you can see 
that the brain that can create a thought or originate a deed 
with nothing preceding it, with no chain of experiences leading 
up to it, is making something out of nothing; and that is even 
more than the power of omnipotence attempts to do; it would 


Thinking Faculties 83 

mate man greater than his Creator if he could make something 
out of nothing. 

As no thought and no deed can create itself, and as a human 
being is not the Creator and cannot create any thought or deed 
out of nothing, the truth conveyed by the present Test becomes 
now quite apparent. 

Something must precede every thought and every deed. 

If you are sure that you understand this, and that you believe 
it to be true, you have come nearer yet to the great MIND that 
is omniscient. It is worth your while to be sure. It is worth 
your while a thousand times over to be able to believe it to be 
true. Think and think hard of all that it conveys to you. It is 
a truth. It is probably the greatest truth in all human history. 
Summed up it is this: 

Each thought, no matter how great or how small, is preceded 
by something. Each deed, no matter how trivial or how im¬ 
portant, is preceded by something. When this truth is seen and 
realized, then the full victory is won. You and your future 
are in the hands of a guiding power that will lift you up to a 
higher plane of existence. You have come to know the greatest 
truth in all the universe. Let us see more closely what this 
means. 

Your life consists only of thoughts and deeds. Each one is 
preceded by something. Your whole life then is the result of 
something that is one step back of it; today and all the time. 
Not one person in ten million believes this, for the reason that 
not one in that vast number ever had the truth called to his 
attention. We have submitted it to the keenest thinkers, and 
the deepest intellects; and at first they have one and all re¬ 
pudiated it by saying, “It is not so, because it cannot be so.” 
Yet after making a thorough analysis of the subject, everyone, 
without exception, has come into full daylight, with some ex¬ 
pression akin to this: “It is true. But it is an awful truth.” 

-One of the greatest thinkers we have ever known, 

said: “It has escaped all our greatest intellects, but it carries 
in its truth the seeds of a wholly new civilization. It is the 
biggest discovery in all the realms of investigation.” 

When he says that it has escaped our greatest intellects, he 
errs, for the most famous and the most learned of all English 
astronomers came to this truth many years ago. 




84 


Brain Tests 


We have announced that this study is scientific. That which 
is most logical, and has the most power, is akin to mathematical 
analysis. The highest form of mathematics is found in as¬ 
tronomy; the man who is at the top of that profession has a 
keener brain than any other class of investigators. It is hut 
natural that this, the greatest and grandest of all discoveries 
of any age, should have been made by an astronomer, and one 
in fact who stood at the head of his nation in that line of 
scholarship. 

We shall use his exact language, in order that it may stand 
for its full value as he set forth his ideas. Before doing this, 
let us see what we have done to your intellect. You admit that 
each thought and each deed, constituting all there is of life, is 
preceded by something else. That something else must of ne¬ 
cessity be either a thought or a deed; either your own, or that 
of others. That something else, being a thought or a deed, was 
preceded by something else. This last something else, being 
either a thought or a deed, was preceded by something else. 
This last something else, being either a thought or a deed, was 
preceded by something else. 

By going back in this way, if we could, we would find our¬ 
selves out in the cold realms of space long before the sun began 
to shine or the stars to twinkle. Now we let the astronomer 
speak, as the way has been prepared for his discovery: 

“Every event, let its importance be what it may, is indis¬ 
solubly bound up with events preceding it, and following it, 
in endless series of causation.” 

Then in a contemplative mood the astronomer goes on to 
say: 4 ‘If a great naturalist like Huxley or Owen can tell by 
examining the tooth of a creature belonging to some long-extinct 
race, not only what the characteristics of that race were, but 
the general nature of the scenery amid which such creatures 
lived, we see at once that a single grain of sand or drop of 
water must convey to an Omniscient and Omnipresent Being 
the history of the whole world of which it forms a part. Nay, 
why should we pause here? The history of the world is in 
truth bound up so intimately with the history of the universe 
that the grain of sand or drop of water conveys not only the 
history of the world, but with equal completeness the history 
of the whole universe. Obviously every event, however trifling, 


Thinking Faculties 85 

must be held to contain in itself the whole history of the uni¬ 
verse throughout the infinite past and throughout the infinite 
future.” 

It is with events that we are dealing. 

An event is either a thought or a deed. 

Taking the view of the scientist whose philosophy we have 
quoted, we find that each event however trifling, even if the 
mere flash of a useless thought, or the lifting of a finger, or 
let its importance be of the gravest character, is indissolubly 
bound up with events preceding IN ENDLESS SERIES OF 
CAUSATION; and of course with endless series of chains that 
follow; that no event can come into existence of its own power 
or volition, that no thought can begin itself, that no deed can 
spring into action as the first step in a chain of cause; but that 
each and every thought and deed must be caused by something 
that preceded it. 

Then that something was as helpless and as powerless to 
begin itself or create itself, or to spring into action by its own 
creative act, as its successor; and so on back to a past that is 
too remote to even be considered. 

These are vital truths. They are facts. But they are a sur¬ 
prise to thinking people, for they seem impossible on their face; 
and if accepted, as they must sooner or later, they will change 
the whole face of civilization. It is to induce you to accept 
them that we have furnished this elaborate description of them. 
As soon as you possess the mental clearness to know they are 
truths, then your future progress in this study will be surpris¬ 
ingly fast, and new results will come into your life. The chains 
of causation referred to are of human origin; let us lead the 
way to other causes over which humanity has no control. 

A higher faculty than that of mere student will have been 
awakened and a new field of wisdom will be opened to you; 
for you will learn to look beyond the source of human experi¬ 
ences which of necessity is founded in the frailties of human 
imperfections, and you will find your mind a crystal glass of 
pure vision separating the imperfect from the perfect ; the false 
from the true; wrong from right; and in this way you see the 
road that leads to the highest civilization. 

OUR PROMISE TO YOU IS THIS:—If we can make the 
membranes of your mind perfectly clear and normal, and can 


86 


Brain Tests 


inspire therein a SOUND JUDGMENT in all things, we will 
show you a realm of wonders of which you have never dreamed; 
a continuous reward for your careful analysis of the truths 
presented in these lessons; for there are Chains of Causation 
that will then guide you and protect you that have their be¬ 
ginning in an era and in a land that preceded the birth of this 
globe. 

As one microscopic seed contains in a space smaller than the 
point of the finest needle ever made, all the countless influences 
and the physical, as well as mental history of all the generations 
that have existed in the past, so the meninges of the human 
brain hold in their microscopic fabric, a story that has never yet 
been told in books, but that reveals the many secrets of creation. 

This TEST may be passed over it if you cannot perceive its 
truth; and you may come to it later on, when it will be clearer 
as this training proceeds. 

But if you do see at this time that it is the embodiment of 
truth, then you are to give yourself the rank of One Hundred 
Percent. 

"When the averages are made, this will help you to ascend 
the scale. 

But you will be allowed a credit of ONE HUNDRED PER¬ 
CENT FOR THIS PART OF THE STUDY. 


SIXTH SECTION 


INSANITY AND CRIME 



A.VING INTRODUCED the Temple of Life, and 
followed with the living of life itself through 
experiences that lead to knowledge and intelli¬ 
gence, and having shown that all experiences 
have causes, each being a link in a chain of 
causation, we are now prepared to engage with 
the serious outcome of these experiences. In an earlier Sec¬ 
tion we made the statement that if every person possessed a 
normal brain, including normal meninges, nothing would go 
wrong in the world; right would prevail everywhere; but when 
the meninges are abnormal, dwarfed, warped, shrunken, in¬ 
flamed or otherwise not in health, SOUND JUDGMENT is im¬ 
possible and wrongs begin. 

Human beings are impelled by two influences: 

1. Instinct requires that they eat and live; therefore the law 
of self-preservation is the first law of nature. Its impulse is 
so strong that it overrides all others. 

2. Experiences, having met with comforts and pleasures, set 
in motion a demand for more of them, and cast about for the 
means of securing them. 

A hungry person, wandering about where no other persons 
had ever been, and finding food, clothing or bodily protection, 
and shelter, would appropriate these things without hesitation. 
A child, not having learned that it cannot claim everything 
that it wants, or that other children might wish the same things, 
would resent being deprived of what its autocratic nature chose 
for its own use. In this mood of resentment it might resort to 
force, and so come in conflict with some other child. If it won, 

87 












































88 


Brain Tests 


it would go on in this career of conquest until some higher au¬ 
thority checked it. But the impulse of taking things would 
remain. 

Ever since the world began and life came upon it, all forms 
of existence have been thieves. In the seas all fish steal when 
it is convenient for them to do so; they take food from other 
fish; and the larger ones eat the smaller ones, whole and alive. 
It is one endless orgy established by the law of self-preservation 
that will go on to the end of time. We who punish human 
thieves never think of blaming the lesser forms of life for 
doing the things that Nature tells them to do. Not long ago 
we saw two dogs, one of good size, the other not half as large, 
playing together; and were told that they were very good 
friends; but when dinner was served them, and some dainty 
morsels like chicken bones and bits of delicious meat were put on 
the plate of each dog, the larger one quickly devoured these 
morsels from both dishes, and left the common food for his loved 
friend, the smaller dog. This was stealing, but no one blamed 
the animal. The cat enters the room in the absence of the 
woman of the house, inserts its paws in the bowl of gold fish, 
and extracts its breakfast. Another cat, finding the door of the 
bird cage left accidentally open, jumps to the cage, drives the 
canary out, and soon catches and eats it. 

All this is stealing. 

The most common crime in the world is the telling of a 
falsehood; but unless it is done under oath, it is not given the 
name of a punishable crime, except when it is written, printed, 
or otherwise made to appeal to the eye, in which case it may 
become criminal libel. But lying is a universal sin. Few per¬ 
sons are exempt from it. When no harm is done to anyone but 
the guilty party, the liar himself, it is called a white lie. 
When it is a necessity as in saving a person from robbery or 
injury, it is called justifiable. In some guise or other it is well 
nigh universal; but not fully so. 

In the list of misdeeds that are always crimes, theft is the 
most common. It is born of the instinct that prompts the 
lower forms of life to help themselves to food and shelter, no 
matter what other life suffers. Humanity at one time was as 
free to steal as were the beasts. It cannot be surprising to¬ 
day that theft and misappropriation are an almost universal 


89 


Insanity and Crime 

offence. The low thief is guilty of low methods in taking 
what does not belong to him. The higher grade of thief, fi¬ 
nances his stealing by all sorts of schemes that ingenuity can 
invent; and most of the advertisements that are not strictly 
mercantile, are devoted to the work of extracting from credu¬ 
lous people their money and savings. In the higher ranks are 
brokers, and real financiers who prey on the investing lambs, 
as they are called in Wall Street. 

“I made a hundred thousand dollars today’’ says a financier 
who has been operating in stocks and bonds. ‘ ‘Who lost one 
hundred thousand dollars?” he is asked. It is not possible for 
one man to make a profit unless someone else suffers a loss. It 
cannot be done. The attempt has been made many times to 
show by figures that a man can make a profit without causing 
a loss to another party. But it cannot be done. The hundred 
thousand dollars has to come from some source; and what makes 
one person richer, makes another poorer. In most instances it 
is by a very indirect course, but the facts are the same. The 
bonding of corporations and then foreclosing the bonds to wipe 
out the stock, is a very high and dignified method of robbery, 
legalized by the laxity of the public, who are in one way or an¬ 
other the actual sufferers. A broker told us the other day that 
this kind of banditry was no longer employed in America for 
robbing investors; that it had been frowned out of existence; 
but we cited three great coal corporations, all of which owned 
coal lands rich in fuel and worth millions upon millions of dol¬ 
lars; all remaining in the names of the stockholders until the 
time was ripe for operating them; then the gangs that controlled 
them needed money with which to start operations; issued 
bonds; set up small accessory corporations that absorbed all the 
dividends; and finally the bonds were foreclosed and the share¬ 
holders were frozen out. The three corporations that we refer 
to are of our own personal acquaintance; but we know of a 
number of such robberies in other companies; and it is now a 
fixed method of proceeding with nearly all coal and similar 
corporations where stock has been sold to the public. 

Fictitious claims are made in advertisements whereby the 
public are induced to pay more than twice what things are 
worth; so that for every ten dollars expended, five dollars are 
stolen. In the general business of the nation, this kind of 


90 


Brain Tests 


robbery goes on under the name of profiteering. The owners of 
coal mines have taken from the public many millions of dollars 
by methods not a bit more honorable than that of the masked 
burglar who crushes the skull of his victim, tortures him into 
confessing the whereabouts of his money, and robs him of his 
little savings. A bandit who knew that his mother had hidden 
in her house a small sum of money, put on his mask, went to 
the house in the dead of the night, strapped his mother to a 
chair, and burned her bare feet with red hot irons in order to 
make her tell him where the money was hidden. This is ex¬ 
actly the heartlessness and the wanton cruelty of the coal oper¬ 
ators, who by their extortions have caused endless suffering to 
those who could not pay, while those who could pay were sub¬ 
jected to general robbery; and the coal companies declared their 
enormous dividends to fatten their already plethoric pockets. 
Had this book been written ten years ago, we guarantee that 
such methods would have resulted in the deportation to foreign 
lands of every such profiteer. 

The store keeper who pays the farmer five cents for a certain 
thing and sells it for several times that sum, is just as much 
a thief as the midnight bandit; and this stamp of profiteer is 
as numerous as flies in the unscreened bakery. 

The land is permeated and saturated with every kind of thief 
and robber and it is due to their almost universal presence that 
they prevail almost unmolested. It is when they maim or kill 
their victims that the law seeks to assert itself; for the financier- 
thief, or the profiteer-thief does not like to feel the bludgeon 
crushing his skull, or see the revolver looking him in the face; 
then there is an appeal to the law. 

All people have a right to the enjoyment of life, liberty and 
the pursuit of happiness. 

This means that any peaceful citizen has the right to walk 
out of doors without being slugged, maimed or slain; that any 
woman has a right to go forth to get the pure air and to be¬ 
hold the beauties of nature without falling into the hands of 
criminals; yet both these rights are denied people today. It 
is not safe to walk or even ride out of doors. Many a man an¬ 
swering the call at the front door of his house after dark is 
shot down. Many a man driving his automobile with his wife 
and children is halted along the highway, ordered to get out 


91 


Insanity and Crime 

and to get his family out, and left in the road miles from home 
while the thugs escape with the car. In the public streets of 
great cities, where throngs are passing, armed bandits are free 
to rob, to shoot, and to get away. This is no longer a land 
where one can enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 

Crime is born of the lines of causation that have been de¬ 
scribed in the preceding Section. 

The act of slaying a fellow being is one link in a chain that 
had its beginning far back in the life of the criminal; for it is 
true that “Every human being’s conduct, whether of thought 
or deed, is a part of a sequence of events over which he has not 
the slightest control 

We are borrowing this law from other works that have elabor¬ 
ated it very fully, and that have followed out the details and 
after effects much more completely than is required in this 
study; for it is merely the basis of a certain phase of our pres¬ 
ent training. 

If a person accepts the earlier Test, this one is naturally the 
conclusion reached by necessity. If each thought and deed is 
wholly dependent on something that preceded it and so on back 
ad infinitum, then it is certain that the individual has nothing 
whatever to do with the cause of that thought or deed. It is 
one link in a chain of causation. 

The law holds to the highest responsibility the criminal who 
had time in cool blood, slowly and deliberately to plan and de¬ 
velop his crime. 

At first you will not see that the more the brain plans the less 
responsible it is in fact. You will not realize that the long 
preparation and the elaborate methods of maturing the details 
of a crime, and the means of concealing it or shifting the sus¬ 
picion upon an innocent person, the less responsible is the 
criminal. Intelligence says this is absurd. Reason argues that 
if the wrong is deliberate, then the guilty is wholly inexcusable. 
These are the old ways of using the brain; the stale system of 
so-called justice. No wonder the courts are failures. They are 
founded on nothing but human frailties. 

The crime that was done was an act; an event. Under the 
Test it was only a link in the chain of causation, being born 
of a preceding link, which was born of a preceding link, and so 
on back to the beginning of things. As the criminal was not 


92 


Brain Tests 


endowed with the gift of a Creator, he could not possibly under 
any circumstances have originated or created the final event, 
the crime, or any events that led step by step up to that act. 
He was wholly without responsibility. 

Now the strange fact is that if he acted quickly, and without 
- any prepense, then he stands better in the eyes of the law on 
the ground that he did not have time to concoct the deed. 
What difference does that make? He had less pressure push¬ 
ing him from the past. Being quick to act, he came that much 
nearer to originating the offence himself. Do you see this 
position? 

But when he deliberated he was swayed by hundreds of 
chains of causation focussing on the final act, and culminating 
in it. The more he deliberated, the more he planned, why of 
course the more numerous were the past chains and their in¬ 
fluences pushing him to the deed. The longer you plan any¬ 
thing the less choice you have in the execution of it; although 
you think all the time that you are choosing between two or 
more courses of action. It you choose one in preference to an¬ 
other, it is because there is a stronger chain of causation dis¬ 
placing other chains of causation. 

This TEST is made to determine to what extent your brain 
has become clear, for if you are not able to find the truth in 
this matter, you still suffer from what is known as muddy 
meninges. They in time under this training will become as 
clear as crystal glass, and the truth will appear. 

Owing to the importance of understanding this TEST, you 
may have to come back to it a number of times; but when it 
becomes an understandable proposition to you, then you are 
permitted to credit yourself with a mark of 
FORTY PERCENT FOR THIS PART OF THE STUDY. 


PUNISHMENT 

It is well to look back and note the logical sequence of the 
TESTS as they follow one another. 

It has been made clear that all intelligence, which is the wise 
use of knowledge, is derived through the latter from the experi¬ 
ences that make up human life; and that such life, with its at¬ 
tendant knowledge, and its intelligence has no other source, as 



Insanity and Crime 93 

far as the act of living it is concerned. It has further been 
proved that knowledge is the accumulated experiences that 
have occurred in lines of causation; each act, thought, deed, or 
episode in life being the result directly of some preceding act; 
and so on without break in the line, back to the first experi¬ 
ences of infancy; or else back to some collateral influence that 
interfered with the lines that were started in infancy, and set 
in motion new lines of causation. But whatever or wherever 
the starting point, no thought, or deed could exist or take ac¬ 
tion of itself. 

For these reasons it must be true that every crime is a link 
in a chain of causation over which the criminal has no control, 
and never did. If the preceding TESTS are clearly seen as 
truths, this must follow of necessity. 

One of two propositions must be true: 

1. Either man is given the power of a Creator to create some¬ 
thing out of nothing. 

2. Or every deed and thought must have a cause in some 
preceding deed or thought. 

There is no other possibility. 

If your brain is perfectly clear and normal, this fact will be 
seen as a self-evident truth. 

A crime is an act, and it was preceded by some thought, some 
plan, some influence; and whatever that was, it also had its 
cause; and so on to the farthest source of human activities. 

This being true it is the duty of those who make laws for 
the punishment of wrong-doers to investigate the real causes 
of crime, and to provide the true remedy. It is not sound judg¬ 
ment to use the penal code as a means of mere revenge. Our 
position is this: no man or woman is responsible for wrongs 
committed no matter what they may be; but this does not give 
the wrong-doer permission to roam at will unchecked. It is 
one thing to punish a crime; and another to prevent its repe¬ 
tition. This difference must ere long be recognized and must 
be the foundation of a new penal system. 

It seems like new doctrine to say that no man or woman is 
responsible for wrongs, sins or crimes; that all such occurrences 
have been the result of chains of causation that have gone be¬ 
fore, and that have had their source in origins that were never 
created by the wrong-doer. But this is the fact, and it will be 


94 


Brain Tests 


recognized as the fact before civilization can obtain a secure 
footing among the activities of mankind. 

There are two classes of people in the world, according to the 
prevailing opinion; one has never had light, and therefore can¬ 
not be expected to do right; the other has been held responsible 
according to the light they have received. On this theory some 
nations are termed benighted; meaning that they are in the. 
moral darkness. When light is given a person to live aright, 
the supposition is that there is nothing left for that person to 
do except to choose between right and wrong; but all turning 
points in a life are controlled by impulses or desires. 

An impulse is either inherited, or acquired as one link in a 
chain of causation; it is never created out of nothing. If it is 
inherited, it becomes a cause that leads onto other causes, each 
being a result of a cause, and the cause of a new result, until it 
culminates in some climax that must be punished for the pro¬ 
tection of the people at large. If it is acquired, the fault is 
in the early education or training, or drift of the child, so that 
one experience becomes the cause of its results down to the 
climax of wrong doing which must be punished. 

The child is told that a certain course of conduct is wrong; 
if after being given this “light” it persists in its error, it is 
punished. Then it realizes that it was wrong. Now comes the 
control of impulses that are of older origin than this *‘light’’ 
and that exert a stronger influence on the activities of the child; 
if such older control gains sway, the child is said to be incor¬ 
rigible. The same is true of nations, and of all life in the ani¬ 
mal kingdom. The dog steals meat, and is punished; if he re¬ 
ceives this punishment at a time and place not connected with 
the theft, it makes not the slightest impression upon him; he 
does not know the reason for it; and he goes on stealing. If 
the punishment is connected with the theft so that he knows 
why it was given, he is then swayed by two impulses; one the 
fear of the whipping; the other the natural instinctive desire 
for food. If he is very intelligent or close to the human pow¬ 
ers of reasoning, he will consider the chances of detection, and 
continue his stealing when he is not observed; he is not cured 
by the whipping, but only held in temporary check. 

This is the story of crime. 

If you analyze it you will find that at no stage of either 


95 


Insanity and Crime 

course has the dog or the man been able to create a decision 
out of absolute nothing; he has made his decision to do right 
by some influence back of that decision which he did not origi¬ 
nate himself; if he chooses to continue in wrong it is because 
there have been impulses, motives, or influences stronger than 
those of the better kind. Choice is always made between two 
chains of causation. 

A man lives in crime all his life; he is not responsible, even 
if legally sane. Another lives in secret sin, wronging himself, 
his family, and his friends; he has followed out chains of causa¬ 
tion that were wholly made for him, not by him. The blackest 
sinner that ever lived is not a responsible being; if he had the 
same chains of causation working in his life and had that life 
to live over again, he would be exactly what he has been. Any 
other belief would make him a Creator, with power to make 
something out of nothing. 

On this theory it may be said that man is a mere dummy; a 
thing for whom all his acts are made by his experiences or by his 
inherited traits. We shall ere long show the other side of this 
theory, or fact; for it is no longer a mere belief; it is a sci¬ 
entific fact firmly established. 

It is a fact that the child is the creature of its bringing up; 
its first training; and of the influences, for good or bad, that 
have shaped and controlled its career. As the twig is bent, the 
tree is inclined. The child is father of the man. The same re¬ 
sults appear in its after existence on earth that appear in any 
kind of life. To say that it is a free being with power to 
choose between right and wrong is to throw civilization back 
to its dregs where it has wallowed from the beginning of time. 
It has power only to pursue the activities that have developed 
in it by the chains of causation. 

While in all normal lives the character of the child will fol¬ 
low exactly the influences that have been given it by the train¬ 
ing force of its experiences, there come times when something 
else crops to the front. 

Here is a man who is as mild as any lamb that ever lived; 
he could not step on a worm purposely; he would not hurt a 
fly; he is gentle, peaceful and tender-hearted. One day a 
villain accosts him and calls him by a vile name that reflects on 
his mother, who is now dead. This quiet man is aroused; he 


96 


Brain Tests 


is a demon; he hardly knows what has taken possession of him; 
he plunges into the villain, and before he lets him go he has 
pummelled his face, blacked both eyes, broken his jaw, kicked 
the culprit until he is well nigh dead, and then he throws 
him into a gutter leaving him to take care of himself the best 
he can. What has come into the brain of that peaceful man? 
Never in all his past life has he had any experience that would 
originate such a course of brutality. 

Back in the meninges of the brain are all the latent influ¬ 
ences and impulses of the savagery that was once the only code 
of conduct in the lives of his ancestors. Earthly experiences 
subdue these barbarous traits by covering them over; but the 
covering is thin in many cases; brutality will crop out un¬ 
expectedly, as is seen in the tortures that college boys inflict on 
the victims that they haze with so much enjoyment; or in the 
violence of strikers who, with their women, never hesitate to 
resort to the most brutal methods of terrorizing the public. The 
following impulses or influences and their sources override the 
training and the peaceful natures of people, and bring to the 
front the savage instincts that lurk hidden or covered in every 
brain y just as the seed of man contains all the traits of all past 
generations, locked up in tiny cells so small as to be inconceiv¬ 
able, but nevertheless there ready to crop out. 

1. If a man has fever, as in typhoid, or la grippe, the menin¬ 
ges will become inflamed, and delirium will release some of the 
past history of the meninges, inherited from a savage ancestry. 
He may be dangerous, in which case the desire to kill is merely 
born over again. He may see dragons and reptiles, showing 
that his ancestors lived among them. 

2. In slight inflammation of the meninges, as from a very 
small indulgence in alcohol, he will do things that ordinarily 
he never does; but in the advanced stages, his murder nature 
will assert itself. In delirium tremens he renews the acquaint¬ 
ance of experiences through which his progenitors lived perhaps 
ten to a hundred thousand years ago; for the various species 
of the animal kingdom that come to re-visit him have not lived 
on this globe for many a century; and they could not be created 
by the modern man himself. No genius can bring into the 
view of the brain reptiles and dragons, and other terrifying 
creatures out of the brain itself; it is a case of the vision being 


Insanity and Crime 97 

magnified by inflammation of the membranes until the old 
scenes reappear. 

3. Congestion arising in the stomach and travelling to this 
zone, will bring dreams during slumber, and some unexpected 
events and characters will enter the vision of the sleeper. 

4. Bone pressure will cause erratic action, and is very often 
the cause of criminal acts. 

5. Teeth abscesses, diseased tonsils, and even impure blood 
will awaken criminal impulses; and in other cases will pro¬ 
duce morbid thoughts and lead to some degrading personal 
habits. That these evils come from such causes, has been 
proved by the removal of the causes and the restoration of the 
normal conditions in good health. 

6. When a people or tribe adopt a diet that is largely unfit, 
there is always a criminal history, and it keeps pace with the 
evil nature of the diet. In our own times, one of the new 
phases of treatment for insanity and crime as well, is the 
reformation of the food habits, substituting food that is ab¬ 
solutely clean and wholesome for that which is irritating and 
productive of chronic congestion. Reports show that criminal 
instincts are thereby controlled and often removed perma¬ 
nently ; and that insanity is also cured when it comes from such 
cause. 

7. As science shows that the human body requires fourteen 
elements, the taking of less, leads to anemia of the brain through 
the same malady in the meninges, and both crime and insanity 
result. This means that the brain cannot do its work on an 
insufficient supply of nutrition. Many experiments have been 
made with people who are unable to sleep well at night. They 
are given a line of food that lacks the proteids, and abounds 
in the carbo-hydrates; the result being that they are made 
sleepy, but at the same time it is noted that they cease to think 
coherently. The food that enables the brain to think is not 
there. When proteids are added, then thinking is resumed in 
its natural state; but if these are much in excess, the mind be¬ 
comes erratic from lack of balance and over-stimulation, and 
cruelty is the first impulse that follows. 

8. It is an old and well known fact that you can “raise the 
devil” in any man if you arouse him sufficiently; and what 
you “raise” is not the result of any chains of causation that 


98 


Brain Tests 


have been made in his life on earth; it is the arousing of a latent 
nature that has been sleeping. Note the fury of mobs bent on 
wrecking vengeance on some brutal criminal; in those mobs are 
men and women who prior to this excitement have been peace¬ 
ful and of the gentlest moods; now they are infuriated beasts; 
and it is more than probable that their beast nature is but the 
sudden awakening of a history long past and buried in the 
modern habits of life. Insanity is often brought into action 
from just such a source. When grief and sorrow or shock 
bear too heavily on the mind, the derangement of thought is not 
due to the development of causes and results acquired, but to 
the excitement that awakens the past conditions; for which 
reason in criminal trials, the defense seeks to show that the 
felon had some relative who was insane. Inherited insanity 
may lie dormant if the health of the brain and all the habits are 
normal; not otherwise. 

Crime therefore has two causes: 

1. The first is acquired from experiences in the life of the 
wrong-doer. 

2. The second is inherited and awakened, or else born awake; 
as is the case with all incurable criminals. 

But whatever the actual cause, the offence is a result that 
comes of the influences back of it, in which the offender had no 
choice that made him a responsible being. If at any time in his 
career he was called upon to choose between right and wrong, 
and chose the right for a time, it was because the influences back 
of his choice controlled it; and if he chose wrong when he knew 
it was wrong, he was just as completely controlled by influences 
that mastered his actions. This is because every act is a link 
in a chain of causation, and is born of a cause that brought it 
into being, and at no stage was any thought, act or decision 
created out of nothing. 

In Nature there is no punishment in the sense that it evens 
up the acts that are wrong. In the beast world, no punishment 
exists. In human life no good has ever been wrought from a 
punishment that looked backward. If it does not look forward 
it ceases to be punishment. Savage governments make use of 
tortures which they inflict on the criminals, and grade them to 
suit the nature of the offence. If such tortures are not made 
public, so that prospective criminals can know of them, they 


99 


Insanity and Crime 

serve no purpose whatever except to satisfy the greed for re¬ 
venge ; and revenge is the great typical characteristic of 
savagery. 

In the South a negro has raped a white girl; the culprit is 
spirited away and destroyed; which is right both in principle 
and in logic, in ethics and in religion; but no more right be¬ 
cause of the color of the offender. It would be just as right 
if the races were reversed; if a white man raped a negress. 
But the lynching accomplished no good if it was not made 
known far and wide. To be merely an act of revenge it was 
nothing but brutal; to look backward it was an act of revenge. 

UNSOUND JUDGMENT teaches the opposite; for it says 
that news of executions and of punishment hardens the criminal 
instinct in others and leads to more inclination to commit crime. 
The whole history of the world combats this claim. Among 
savage peoples where every brain is closest to the murderous 
instinct, murders are exceedingly rare; rape is unknown; and 
theft among themselves wholly wanting; for the reason that any 
of these crimes is met with swift action, and of such a severe 
kind that few natives will take chances. In England where mur¬ 
der is punished with a swiftness and certainty that appals the 
criminals, the taking of human life is the rarest among all 
civilized nations. There murders decrease steadily; here in 
America they increase because of the uncertainty of punishment 
and the slipshod methods of our courts. 

If the penal code has no other purpose than to look to the 
offender, and to deal with him, treating the matter as between 
him and the State, then crime will keep on increasing, as it 
is doing today. The point we make is this: The offender is 
not morally responsible for his crime; hence he should not be 
made the victim of mere revenge; but as he had no sufficient 
staying influence to hold in check his criminal tendencies at 
any stage of his career, his punishment should be made to serve 
other lives where such staying influence is needed to prevent 
other like crimes. 

If this proposition is clear to you, and if you can see why 
every wrong act and thought are born of lines of causation 
over which a man or woman has no control, then you are to 
mark your self with 

FORTY PERCENT FOR THIS PART OF THE STUDY 


100 


Brain Tests 


DETERRENTS 

By the same logical process that has been observed thus far 
in this study we come to the prevention of crime; not its cure; 
as the cure is born of the mistakes made by Intelligence, which 
is merely the use of the accumulated mistakes of life that are 
called experiences. Reason is the apology made in behalf of In¬ 
telligence. Both are just as frail as their source, which is hu¬ 
man existence. 

We have proved that no person is responsible for his deeds 
or thoughts; and have asserted that no criminal should be pun¬ 
ished; but we have not advised that criminals should be set 
loose upon the public. Punishment that is graded is absurd; 
for it is mere revenge to execute an irresponsible man for a 
deliberate murder, and to fine a man or commit him to jail 
for thirty days for killing a pedestrian when he is driving in 
an irresponsible manner because he is under the influence of 
liquor. Only such farcical system as that created by Intelli¬ 
gence and Reason would destroy the life of the deliberate mur¬ 
derer, and give him a few months of jail confinement for the 
reckless killing of a passer-by on the street. 

The scale or gradation of penalties is likewise the climax of 
absurdity. A man who is armed when he robs, and who is 
ready and willing to kill if resisted, is just as much a menace 
as the man who plans a deliberate murder. The Judge is more 
a menace to society who says to the criminal, “It is fortunate 
for you that your shot went wild; for if you had killed your 
victim, you would have paid for it with your life. Six months.” 
The men who made a law that gives a lesser sentence for a shot 
that went wild than if the shot had killed, are mental weaklings; 
yet all the penal codes of the State are built on such principles. 
They are all examples of what Intelligence and Reason have ac¬ 
complished; and the result is that our land is honey-combed 
with crimes and overrun with criminals; and the public simply 
hides from these conditions because it knows no means of escape. 

Instead of punishing crime, there is something better. 

A man lost his arms and legs by falling under a train of cars. 
The doctor said it was useless to try to make a whole man of 
him; but that the same accident would be avoided in the future 
by taking steps to prevent its recurrence. Prior to that time 


101 


Insanity and Crime 

the people who used the tracks had been careless and indiffer¬ 
ent; after the accident the tracks were fenced in such a way 
that no more carelessness and indifference would be possible. 
It is on this principle that crime should be controlled; whatever 
will prevent its occurrence is a million times better than punish¬ 
ing the criminal after the act has been committed, and the mur¬ 
dered victim cannot be brought back to life and his family 
given his comradeship. 

Waiting until a crime has been done is typical of the low 
state of civilization under which we live. It does not require 
much mental astuteness to see that such back-handed methods 
are stupid; yet we find them the only methods employed in this 
land of freedom. 

A DETERRENT is something that deters; stops; holds back; 
checks. 

If a murder has been committed, it was because there had been 
no deterrent acting upon the brain of the murderer. 

There is no real sense or wisdom in punishing crime; that 
merely closes the barn after the horse has fled. The police of 
the world wait until the crime has been committed; then seek 
the criminal. Actual wisdom would deter the criminal from 
committing the crime. Until the human brain can see this 
principle, the world will be filled with murderers. 

A deterrent is any influence that deters. 

It must be of sufficient force to effect its object. Mild or 
temporizing deterrents are useless. Nature teaches us the way. 
She insists, to take a single instance, on the sanctity of the mar¬ 
riage relationship. Personal liberty, which means always un¬ 
bridled licentiousness, insists on having its own way; and de¬ 
fies Nature. Man instead of being faithful to his wife, plays 
the part of roue to many women. Nature sets up a deterrent so 
strong that, in the latter part of the fifteenth century 999 out 
of every thousand of the'population were afflicted with the most 
horrible of all diseases, from which spring cancers, abscesses, 
paresis, epilepsy, locomotor ataxia, rotting bones and cartilages, 
and an almost endless train of consequences even to the sixth 
generation following the defiance of Nature. It was the easiest 
thing in the world to demand personal liberty but it has been 
the hardest thing in the world to wipe out the blood taint that 
it brought on the race; and in one era there came the proclama- 


102 


Brain Tests 


tion that either humanity would rot itself into its perpetual 
grave, or else yield; and Nature’s deterrent did the work. It 
was cruel but necessary. 

In the last thousand years prior to the Christian era, prac¬ 
tically all persons who comprised the finest civilization of those 
ten centuries in Western Asia, were rotten with venereal dis¬ 
ease, as the result of the demand for personal liberty. The de¬ 
terrent came in the form of an appeal to the lingering spark of 
decency in humanity; with the result that in the first centuries 
of the Christian era, and for some hundreds of years after, a 
religion swept over that part of the world that had power 
enough to save the character that lay smoldering under the 
wreckage of the soul. 

The story of the flood, whether allegorical or founded on fact, 
has been a deterrent, and did much to uphold the honor of man¬ 
kind for a long period, as they were led to fear its repetition. 
The burning of Sodom and Gomorrah was a deterrent in so far 
as it inspired fear in the hearts of others. Hell fire was preached 
for centuries as a deterrent, in order that men and women would 
through fear make themselves better morally. 

There are as many kinds of deterrents as there are kinds of 
wrongs. We saw one that automatically worked its own suc¬ 
cess. Many years ago, long before the prohibition amendment, 
a city of about ten thousand people and the county seat, decided 
that personal liberty was the right thing; and it was adopted 
by common consent. When we were there we found that every 
boy above the age of fifteen was a confirmed drunkard, useless, 
blear-eyed, weak-minded, slobby, flabby in body, blotched in 
skin and shambling in movements with no ambition and no 
manhood. Physicians made the statement that venereal dis¬ 
eases had got their grip on ninety-eight percent of the peo¬ 
ple, males and females alike; that both sexes were nasty in body, 
nasty in speech and nasty in morals. The climax of these con¬ 
ditions which seemed to come on them in a few short years, ap¬ 
peared in the form of a re-action, a sense of shame and mortifi¬ 
cation, and resulted in the setting up of an exclusive class of 
decent people who added others slowly to their ranks as the 
years went by, until the drunkards were ignored and spurned; 
spewed as it were out of the mouths of the wholesome class. 

The deterrent was the re-action, the shame and mortification 


103 


Insanity and Crime 

at the sight of what personal liberty had accomplished there. 

A very peculiar experiment has been made many times of late 
in the treatment of certain classes of insane people. It oc¬ 
curred in war times and from necessity. It proved that only 
the brain of Intelligence becomes insane; that the sub-intellect 
never does. An army having charge of a large number of 
patients who were insane, when some of the patients who had 
been coddled in their tantrums broke out in fits of ravings, 
executed one of them. The ravings were noticeably decreased; 
but when they again broke out, several of the most violent pa¬ 
tients were executed; each execution being in the presence of 
all the patients. After that all violence ceased, and there were 
no more ravings as long as that army was in charge. When 
however the patients were removed to other quarters and under 
other control the ravings were renewed. As an experiment some 
of the officers of the army that had quelled them, were brought 
into their presence; and the ravings again stopped. 

These facts were made known to certain officials and alienists 
who have charge of such institutions, and they stated that if 
they could reach the sub-conscious faculty of insane persons, 
they could control them if not cure them. 

All this shows the relationship of the varying degrees of ir¬ 
responsibility. Every criminal is irresponsible under the 
Tests. Every insane person is irresponsible under the law, as 
well as under the Tests. Every sane person, taking the legal 
definition only for sanity, is irresponsible under the Tests. 
Hence all persons, insane, sane and criminal, are related through 
the operations of a diseased Intelligence. 

In the far West when horse stealing was too frequent to be 
enjoyed by horse owners, a rope and a tree served as a deter¬ 
rent ; and it served so well that it saved the courts much work, 
saved the horses from disappearing, and checked the inclinations 
of men and young fellows from becoming thieves. In fact this 
kind of deterrent made dishonest men honest, and started church 
work, church building and Sunday Schools. 

England found herself almost as much crime-ridden as our 
land now is; and having no rabid demagogues who wanted to 
pose for popularity votes, she made a law that condemned all 
thieves, high and low, no matter whether they stole a penny or 
robbed a traveler, whether they merely pilfered or killed as they 


104 


Brain Tests 


robbed, she condemned them to the gallows and left their bodies 
hanging for weeks and months at cross roads where all could see. 
This was not punishment for a crime; if it had been, the exe¬ 
cutions would have been in secret. It was only a deterrent. 
To become effective as a deterrent, the bodies must be left hang¬ 
ing for a long time for the public to gaze upon. The deterrent 
saved England. Had she coddled her thieves they would have 
sapped the power of the government and she would have fallen 
prey to invaders and foreigners; and these would have carried 
on more executions than England herself did. 

Epidemics, like black plague, and many others that have 
swept millions to their graves, have been Nature’s deterrents 
when people were filthy in their habits, and unclean in every 
way. The yellow fever served as an effective deterrent against 
filthy cities in this country. Nature is cruel; but only to be 
kind; and man will not be moved by temporizing deterrents like 
those of our courts. 

To temporize with wrong is sure to increase wrong-doing. 

A deterrent should work swiftly, with unerring certainty, and 
with appalling strength; or it will not serve as a new influence 
to set up a new chain of causation. Men are not moved by 
temporizing methods, nor by this class of deterrents. This 
power takes as its object to work upon, the criminal and his 
misdeed, and shows to mankind that this sort of offender is 
not to be tolerated, nor such an offence repeated without great 
danger to the next criminal. 

We have said that temporizing deterrents do not move men. 
This is the reason why Nature, when she strikes hard against a 
wrong, acts in no uncertain way. 

To temporize is to leave some doubt about the consequences of 
a wrong act. Our courts are all of them guilty of this fault of 
temporizing. We have 232 murders to each one hundred thou¬ 
sand people every year, with thousands of assaults or other 
wrongs, because our methods of dealing with criminals and 
wrong-doers is all temporizing. In England they have nine¬ 
teen murders to a hundred thousand yearly, against our 232; 
but there the law does very little temporizing. The criminal 
knows in advance that the chances of escape from the penalty 
are very slim; that the law is administered to prevent crime 
by the strong deterrent of quick and certain punishment; and 


105 


Insanity and Crime 

that he is safer doing right than wrong. The result is that 
crimes are decreasing in England, and rapidly increasing in our 
land. In Italy after capital punishment was abolished, murders 
increased at a fearful rate until that country leads all civilized 
nations in its toll of human life through lax methods of dealing 
with crime. 

The criminal studies his chances; in America he has many 
chances in his favor; only two murderers in every hundred are 
convicted and punished; and those who are subjected to punish¬ 
ment are coddled by thin-haired women and jelly-spined and 
cadaverous men; and eventually set free even if they go to 
prison; with the record that nine out of every ten convicts who 
are released are again engaged in murders and robberies. 

There is no criminal deterrent in America that has any value. 

Some day when the courts are bandied about by mobs, and 
when organizations are compelled to take the law in their own 
hands, this orgy of lawlessness will so shock the decent charac¬ 
ter of the minority that they will find it a deterrent; not to 
check crime; but to put an end to the system and methods that 
fail to stop crime itself. In America we have the ground 
power of a great structure of the right kind; and we will be 
driven to it either by the blackening flames of uncontrollable 
crime waves; or some set of men and women, believing in these 
teachings, will put them into use in an orderly way; by proc¬ 
esses of law and not by anarchy. 

If the cruelties of the Spanish Inquisition had been aimed 
at thieves instead of heretics, and had been done in the open, 
peace on earth and good will to men would have come about 
in a year; and not have hung on the skirts of moral crusades 
for centuries. A whole county in the far West many years 
ago was afflicted with bandits who were armed and who never 
hesitated to kill when resisted. The decent people formed an 
organization of men known only to each other as loyal to the 
purposes of the society. They posted a notice in every store 
to the effect that every thief, high or low, would be hung; no 
thief excepted; and no distinction of sex to be recognized. 
The first theft was of a hammer that had been left on the steps 
of a house. The thief was seen, arrested and hung. Hung 
for stealing a hammer, worth less than a dollar? Yes. And his 
body was left on the tree where the hanging took place, pla- 


100 


Brain Tests 


carded with the notice that any theft, trivial or great, would 
be punished by death and public exposure of the body until 
it rotted. From that date, for over twenty years, there was 
not a theft of any kind committed. The bandits who had slain 
a dozen innocent victims in the preceding two years, went out 
of business. Life was safe. Women could go out alone. The 
fields and lanes were no longer shunned by people who had a 
right to walk in them. 

Here we have the idea of what is meant by sacrifice. 

The bandits were not punished. The chains of causation that 
led them to commit crimes, and that made them wholly irre¬ 
sponsible, were sidetracked by a deterrent in the form of the 
sacrifice of the first thief that stole anything; and no doubt the 
murderous bandits thought that if so slight an offence as the 
stealing of a hammer met death as a consequence, the greater 
crimes must be too hazardous to be undertaken. 

There is no criminal code in the world that punishes with 
death the stealing of a hammer or anything of so slight a value. 
Hence the death penalty could not be a punishment that fitted 
the crime. It was a sacrifice, and served as a deterrent that 
accomplished a thousand times more than the arrest, conviction 
and execution of a bandit would have done. Its very horror, its 
wholly disproportionate relation to the offence, made it a strong 
deterrent. Yet there was a time in England when the theft of 
a loaf of bread was punished by hanging; not in one instance; 
but in many thousands; and it saved that country from becom¬ 
ing the slave of a foreign enemy. 

To instil in a person the desire to do right, and make that 
desire genuine, is the very best of all deterrents, if it can come 
from the side of peace. A firmly intrenched belief taught to a 
child by its mother becomes a chain-starter of such strength 
that no evil influences can ever sidetrack it. Gentleness and 
love can accomplish then what they will fail to do in later years. 
In more than ninety percent of young children there is the 
yielding to these sweet and tender influences; while, in the 
period of youth and maturity hardly five percent can be de¬ 
pended upon to thoroughly absorb such teachings. 

Now let us see what kind of a brain you possess. 

Here is the proposition: Which is evidence of that SOUND 
JUDGMENT that denotes a high state of civilization; 


107 


Insanity and Crime 

1. To wait until the crime has been committed in every in¬ 
stance; to wait until the wife, mother, or daughter has been 
raped; to wait until the loved one has been murdered; and then 
work backward by seeking to try the criminal, to set up the 
machinery of chicanery called the jury system and the travesty 
called the court of justice, to admit the pettifogging lawyer 
to mislead the jury, to work on their emotions, to thwart the 
course of safety for the public by trickery and bewildering 
technicalities; while other criminals are laughing at the whole 
farce, and planning other murders and crimes; 

2. Or, to move with swiftness, certainty, and terrible fear¬ 
fulness against the first offender; to make the world of criminals 
understand that there is no safety, no temporizing, no escape 
for them; and thereby accomplish the following ends: 

For the ONE felon so dealt with, 200 other felons will have 
learned the lesson of certain death if they take further chances. 

These 200 others will not dare to continue their criminal 
careers. 

These 200 felons will carry with them influences that will de¬ 
ter hundreds if not thousands of young men from entering upon 
criminal careers; and will undoubtedly save from the electric 
chair scores of their fellow beings; will make life safer for the 
law abiding people; will end much of the fear that now pre¬ 
vails; and will create a profound respect for the law that is 
now sadly lacking. 

It has been estimated by eminent criminologists that ONE 
severe example of this kind will take ONE LIFE in place of 
a large number of lives. 

Any clear mind, making use of the inexorable laws of life 
that control human action, is able to see the truth in these facts, 
and to recognize the only course to be pursued. 

It comes down to the question whether it is better to prevent 
the murder of a law-abiding citizen, or to allow him to be slain 
for the sake of catering to the so-called sacred rights of the 
would-be murderer. 

If you can see the truth in this problem, then credit yourself 
with 


SIXTY PERCENT FOR THIS PART OF THE STUDY. 



108 


Brain Tests 


OUTLAWS 

We have dealt with the study of criminals, and come now 
to that class that make a living out of crime; or that are con¬ 
stant and perpetual law-breakers. In the old days men were 
tried for treason and given very little pity, for the willingness 
to destroy the government under which one lives, is not alone a 
crime but it is treason. In fact that is the exact definition of 
this felony. The man who has absolutely no respect for law is 
a hater of his government, and this is the spirit of treason. 
Some years ago a book was written, the title of which was 11 The 
man without a Country,” and it depicted the disgrace of such 
a man. Yet it is much worse to have a country and to dis¬ 
honor it. 

While the law has always given to an accused man the right 
of trial by jury under the law, it denied this right to pirates; 
for they were described as OUTLAWS. When a man is in 
fact an outlaw he automatically forfeits his right to a trial by 
jury or to the protection of the law in any form. Land out¬ 
laws are no better than sea outlaws, or pirates. There are in 
this country today three classes of land outlaws: 

1. Armed law-breakers. 

2. Possessors of deadly weapons. 

3. Professional law-breakers. 

An outlaw must be refused all protection under any law or 
any constitution whether of State or United States. 

He should not be entitled to trial by jury, or any trial except 
that his guilt should be established by a tribunal of people of 
legal training and common sense. 

On conviction he should be executed without delay. 

One such execution will serve to check a thousand bandits 
and would-be murderers. 

We have said that the man who is willing to kill is as much 
a murderer as if he had killed. The absurdity of a criminal 
code that permits a light sentence for the man whose shot missed 
his victim, and death in case his aim had been accurate, is seen 
at a glance. 

The thief who is armed and is willing to kill should be de¬ 
clared an outlaw, with the right of any law-abiding citizen to 
slay him on sight. Waiting until an innocent victim has been 


109 


Insanity and Crime 

killed, is one of the phases of our law system that causes the in¬ 
crease of crime. Why wait until he has taken the life of your 
friend, of your son, of your daughter, or wife, or mother? He 
is an outlaw, and should be placed beyond the pale of the pro¬ 
tection of the law. 

Not only should the police be permitted to shoot to kill all 
outlaws, but everybody who is law-abiding should have the same 
right. The latter class should, in limited numbers, be made 
officers without pay, and should be armed. 

The carrying without right to any deadly weapon should be 
declared an act of outlawry. Of course the selling of such 
weapons should be kept within the business of the police de¬ 
partment. No merchant should have the right to deal in death 
weapons. Many countries have reduced crime by executing 
people who are found with guns or other means of killing. 
The fact that the Irish Free State was compelled to put to 
death all men who had such weapons in their possession is not 
alone chargeable to that country. The very salvation of a na¬ 
tion has at times hung on the extermination of its armed 
enemies. 

There are three stages to murder: First the obtaining of the 
weapon; second, the willingness to slay; third, the actual slay¬ 
ing. If you dispose of the would-be murderer before the last 
stage, you save one or more innocent lives; yet American law 
says wait till the murder has been committed, always. This is 
the height of folly. If the criminal is hunting his victims, and 
is killed before he kills, the man who should be disposed of is out 
of the way. Yet American law says, we cannot do anything 
until the crime is committed. And the public permits the 
weapons to be exhibited on sale in store windows in all cities 
and towns, so that instead of a deterrent it is inviting its own 
ruin. 

The third class of outlaws are professional law-breakers; by 
which is meant men and women who, as a business or a vocation, 
are lawless, who scorn all law, and do as they please. There 
are many such women; many such men; and in this era they are 
adding great numbers to their ranks. In many countries that 
in some respects are far more civilized than we are, it is treason 
to make a business of law-breaking; for it stabs the heart of the 
republic. 


110 


Brain Tests 


All outlaws, as we have said, should be denied the protection 
of the law that has been made for loyal citizens. When outside 
the pale of law they have no real rights. They are land pirates. 
Ocean pirates were targets for the guns of others. Land pirates 
should be disposed of in the same manner; but by legal permis¬ 
sion. As we shall say later, no step should be taken contrary 
to the prevailing law of the land. 

The act of outlawing the classes referred to is in the nature 
of a sacrifice; for it is better sense to kill the would-be mur¬ 
derer before he deals his fatal blow or fires his fatal shot at his 
victim, than to wait and let the innocent suffer, and the guilty 
take his gambler’s chance of beating the courts, a la American 
style. 

DEATH OR DEPORTATION SHOULD REMOVE ALL 
OUTLAWS 

Instant death should be the fate of any criminal, or person 
about to commit crime, if he is armed, and is caught armed. 
The reason for this is that he has murder in his heart, or else he 
would not be armed. Having murder in his heart he is willing 
to kill, and is just as guilty of murder as if he had actually slain 
his victim. At common law any felon engaged in a crime 
where someone is killed is just as guilty as the one who does 
the actual killing; yet American juries excuse the man who did 
not fire the fatal shot and convict the one who did. This is a 
breeder of more crimes, and is unsound law and bad reasoning. 
Some day under a better civilization the law will provide a 
death penalty for being armed and willing to kill; and it will 
go farther and give every law abiding citizen the right to kill 
on sight a criminal who is armed. If there is objection to the 
death penalty, then:— 

The possessor of deadly weapons should be deported without 
mercy. 

Every profiteer should be deported without mercy. 

Every habitual law-breaker should be deported without 
mercy. 

Leniency to criminals sows the seed of national ruin. 

France got rid of some of its criminals by deportation. Eng¬ 
land, when its moral being was rotten to the core, got tired of 
hanging its criminals and offenders, and sent them to Australia; 


Ill 


Insanity and Crime 

which was humane. In the latter country they laid the founda¬ 
tion for as tine a race of people as can be found in the mother 
country when it is at its best; showing that the trouble is not 
in the vicious character of the criminal, but in the chains of 
causation over which he has no control and for which he is not 
in the least responsible. 

Deportation was the deterrent that saved the mother nation, 
and that saved the offenders. 

Australia today has about nine million inhabitants; and is 
shouting to the world to send more. It is afraid of being ut¬ 
terly crushed if attacked by a powerful enemy. It wants men 
and women; and more native population to be born of immi¬ 
grants. England is inviting people to migrate to Australia, 
her colony. 

Cuba needs outside nationalities before she can rise out of her 
fetid slumber and hectic fever. She can assimilate a few mil¬ 
lions; while Australia has room for fifty millions. The Philip¬ 
pine Islands are located in a mild climate as are both the coun¬ 
tries just referred to, and can receive several million new settlers. 
Then there are parts of Africa that, by the law of reciprocation, 
might well take back as many whites as it has contributed blacks 
to foreign shores. 

There is no dearth of places to send criminals to if we choose 
to inaugurate the plan of deportation. 

While professional law-breakers and armed thieves should be 
placed outside the pale of law and given the same treatment 
that ended the careers of pirates, there are several classes of 
minor offenders that should be deported; and these include: 

1. First of all, every thief; for it is the thief that is the em¬ 
bryo murderer.—Check the criminal career in its start; stop 
crime before it is committed, rather than always be trying to 
punish it afterwards. Lock the barn door before the horse is 
stolen, rather than hunt for it afterwards and employ detec¬ 
tives to seek the criminal. 

2. Every person who sells or has for sale any deadly weapon. 
—The business of dealing with such things belongs to the police 
department of every town and city. Today many store win¬ 
dows display revolvers for sale and this sight has turned many 
a wavering youth into the life of a bandit. 

3. Every profiteer.—No matter whether he is a coal baron, 


112 


Brain Tests 


or a coal broker, or a coal retailer, or a grocer, or butcher, or 
other merchant, if he is making an unfair profit, he should be 
deported. 

4. Every immoral professional woman.—Of course the man is 
to blame more than the woman; but patrons of these females 
could be deported to other countries. A small percentage of 
deportations would act as severe deterrents and save countless 
thousands of guilty persons from the punishment their crimes 
deserve if we put into use the codes of law, which are really 
dead letters in such cases. 

5. Every drunkard.—He may be rescued from the chains 
of causation that have brought him into ruin as a man, if he 
knows that some of his class are being deported and that the 
same fate is certain for him if he does not cease his habits. 
Pear of arrest and public humiliation serve more to glorify his 
boast that he is a drunkard than to deter him. And he knows 
that the law is nearly dead that would interfere with his offence 
unless he becomes a more serious offender. 

6. Every loafer.—The professional tramp as distinguished 
from the real man who is down and out, should be deported. 
In Australia they will be welcomed with open arms, and not 
one of them will suffer from lack of work. The climate is mild 
enough to help them settle the clothing and housing question. 

7. Every libelous writer and publisher, reporter and corre¬ 
spondent.—This land is saturated with criminal sheets in the 
form of yellow newspapers, which live by their attacks on 
decency and purity. If a real deterrent is started to save men 
and women from themselves, these yellow sheets assail such 
movements with every kind of falsehood and deceit; and as their 
circulation is confined to the semi-insane classes, they stand as 
barriers to the people most in need of being helped; for semi- 
insane people have as much right to be given opportunities for 
becoming better as have the other classes. More than this, it 
should be made a serious risk for any writer to be associated 
with such papers. When the law seeks to hunt down the men 
guilty of any libel, the cowards dodge behind each other. The 
only way to deal with them is to hold responsible any person 
connected directly or indirectly with such sheets; as this will 
be notice to all the world that it is dangerous to associate with 
yellow papers. 


113 


Insanity and Crime 

Yon cannot help humanity when you have against you a news¬ 
paper that perverts all truth, upholds all license in the name of 
personal liberty, and feeds on maligning the character of every 
man and woman who is decent. People are suffering now from 
the venom of the advocates of personal liberty; and the slums 
are getting deeper and thicker in their slime as one of the 
consequences; while every kind of misfortune stalks abroad 
threatening the real freedom of people who wish to enjoy this 
land of liberty, but who dare not go out for fear of the bandit 
and his bludgeon, or the hold-up man with his gun. 

Influences may be divided into two classes: 

1. Crime-breeders. 

2. Deterrents. 

Among the worst crime-breeders are lax courts, lax laws, lax 
prosecutions and evil suggestion. 

While all kinds of deterring influences will constantly he ex¬ 
erting more or less power on human actions, in this age when 
practically every politician is dishonest, and when there is al¬ 
most no respect for the law, nothing short of fear will alter the 
course of life with these offenders; and the fear must be strong 
enough to move them. It must present something that will 
hurt. It must move swiftly; it must be certain; there must be 
no chance of escape. 

Having presented the facts and conditions concerning those 
classes that breed criminals, and that become breakers of the 
law, and having found all of the prevailing methods of dealing 
with them useless and impotent we have shown the only course 
to be pursued under the direction of a^ SOUND JUDGMENT 
controlling a perfectly sane mind. Wrong-doing must be 
stopped at its source, not at its spent end. All crime must be 
checked at its source if human life is worth anything at all; 
and this source is in the evil lives of habitual law-breakers and 
of those who defy all law. For them there should be swift, 
sure, overwhelming punishment, strong enough to act as a 
permanent deterrent to all others who would follow after. 

If you are able to see clearly the wisdom and truth of this 
fact, you will be permitted to credit yourself with 

THIRTY PERCENT FOR THIS PART OF THE STUDY. 




SEVENTH SECTION 


PROTECTING THE FUTURE 



IVILIZATION may or may not be at its highest 
condition in this land of the United States; there 
may be other lands more advanced in civiliza¬ 
tion than ours; but the geographical situation 
of this country, and the purposes in which it 
became a Republic favor it above all other na¬ 
tions of the world. With great oceans on either side; with a 
people and land like that on the north; and with the Mexicans 
on the south; it is ideal in its environments. It extends as far 
as it should; further accessions would not only render it un¬ 
wieldy, but would remove buffer states that have numbers of ad¬ 
vantages. We need Canada and a people like the Canadians 
for friendly neighbors; and we need Mexico and a people like 
the Mexicans for neighbors even though not at all times friendly. 

The access to our land is by water on the east and west; and 
by land on the north and south; and there are easy stages of 
approach by islands not far off the coasts. It requires diligence 
of an order higher than that we now exercise to ward off unde¬ 
sirable foreigners. They seep in from the north and from the 
south and by coast approach from adjacent islands. In this re¬ 
gard we need better protection. 

We have said that Australia with its nine millions is a very 
sparsely settled country. Its invitation is extended to all the 
world for more people. Its great fear is a warlike nation of 
more than one hundred million people not far away; under 
whose attacks it would be helpless. Because America offers 
more immediate gain in wages and wealth, we are made the re¬ 
ceiving station of the whole world. But on the other hand had 
we stopped immigration when we were as young as Australia 

114 































115 


Protecting the Future 

or as sparsely settled, it is a question whether we would now 
hold the commanding position that we hold among the first 
class nations of the world. 

The melting pot is often referred to as that mixture of the 
races that will absorb all the undesirables and produce a blend 
that will take rank as a new people; but the mixtures are al¬ 
ready too undesirable, and no amount of melting can make the 
race that was once contemplated. Fifty years ago was the 
time when immigration should have been restricted; now it is 
too late. In recent years, there have been enacted laws that re¬ 
duce the number of each nationality to a minimum; but the 
new hordes that get in even in that way, and the still more 
despicable entries from the seeping process from the lands north 
and south of us and from adjacent islands that are used as 
stepping stones for far away migrators, are adding great num¬ 
bers that never can become anything but a source of added 
danger to our national life. 

If we had never admitted immigrants in a promiscuous man¬ 
ner, we would never have had anarchists in our midst. All 
that our people have been taught of treason against the gov¬ 
ernment has been learned from these migratory hordes. All the 
violence in strikes and all the unrest in the conditions that other¬ 
wise would have tended toward peaceful pursuits have come 
from these foreign sources. Of the criminals and thieves of 
every grade, and of the bandits and murderers that infest our 
land, ninety-eight percent are either foreigners, or of foreign 
extraction, or non-racials. The last named are here to stay; 
but when their criminal instincts have driven the people into a 
desperate hatred of them, and the law cannot adequately check 
them, there will arise organized masses that will make crime 
an unsavory dish for their beastly appetites. It is to avert this 
unlawful uprising that this lesson is being written. 

Our population now consists of these non-racials; of criminal 
foreigners; of criminals of foreign extraction; and of our own 
law-breakers all sprinkled in large proportions among the other 
classes. There is a visible increase annually of lawlessness; 
and of growing disrespect for the law and for government. If 
we are seeking to save ourselves from these sinister enemies, 
we must move in a number of directions without delay in order 
to do so. 


116 


Brain Tests 


Immigration of criminals and defectives into this country 
should be stopped. We cannot absorb the undesirables we 
already have in our midst; so why bring in more? The most 
vital reason for this exclusion is the difference between the 
standards set by our own nation and those of other nations, 
even those that are nearest to us in these matters. Our la¬ 
borers and all classes of workmen exist under vastly better 
conditions than those of any other country. They have ad¬ 
vantages of better home life, of better education for their chil¬ 
dren, of more intelligent activities, and of opportunities for 
advancement not found elsewhere. When you allow the lesser 
influences to enter unhindered into our own conditions, and 
the masses from other lands to mingle with our people, until 
there is a general average of the whole, it will be found that 
such average has dropped far down in the scale of civilization. 

If we are better as a people than our competitors, we should 
maintain that difference. The average home in America among 
the laboring classes, and among the producers, is a much better 
residence than the average home abroad. To permit that bet¬ 
ter condition to drop because of the establishing here of meaner 
and less comfortable homes, is a step backward instead of 
forward. 

SOUND JUDGMENT tells us that all immigration should be 
prohibited for many years to come. In this breathing period we 
should make an effort to sift out those who are here and are 
unworthy of our institutions. They should be deported, and 
this work should be carried on by a systematic plan until it 
is completed. Under existing laws some of the anarchists have 
been sent out of the country; all should follow. But this ex¬ 
pense and trouble may be avoided from now on by preventing 
the coming into our midst of the criminal classes of other 
nations. 

More men to carry on farming are sought when we already 
have more farmers than the country needs. 

More men to do the heavy work of hard labor are sought when 
we have now several million more men of this kind than are 
needed. 

More men to work in the mills are sought when there are 
many thousands idle. The mills themselves are not the neces¬ 
sities that is claimed for them; for the time is coming when 


117 


Protecting the Future 

masses of workers will not be herded in cities and towns; but 
there will be many units of working places that will be more 
attractive and more humane. That problem is discussed later 
on in this study. But the fact is that we have more mill work¬ 
ers than we ought to have or need to use for such work. 

There are one hundred and ten millions of people in the United 
States, according to a census taken some years ago; and prob¬ 
ably several millions may be added. These are increasing by 
their own natural propagation. It is better if there is to be a 
melting pot, not to add too large a proportion of bitterness and 
hatred in its composition; it is already a fearful brew. Let the 
increase go on by the usual methods, and without addition from 
the scum of other lands. 

Our population consists of our own race, and of the non- 
racials. The latter did at one time intermarry with the whites, 
but are not doing so at this time. There are three distinct races 
in addition to the Caucasians. They will not intermarry among 
themselves, nor as a rule with the whites. If they increase 
faster than the whites, they will in time outnumber them; but it 
will be a long time. The yellow race are seeping in very 
rapidly, despite efforts to keep them out. 

In the white race we find a large number of semi-dark people, 
who are not regarded as non-racial. Thus the Greeks who own 
thousands of candy stores and restaurants, are placed among the 
Caucasians; as are the Italians, and many of the South Ameri¬ 
cans, and a vast number from Eastern Europe, such as the 
Armenians, Hungarians and others. All these intermarry, not 
only among themselves but among our own white people. Irish 
and Italians marry freely, and produce children of the very 
best grade as coming citizens. An honest, industrious and 
decent Italian is as capable of making a good American, as any 
other foreigner, and better than many of our own ancestors. 
When wed to an Irish husband or wife, the result is nearly al¬ 
ways beneficial to the nation. Greeks marry our own people, 
and the children are of high grade, when the rank and status 
of the parents are taken into consideration. Hungarians and 
Armenians likewise enter into the melting pot with favorable 
promise of the outcome. 

It is rare that a Greek, a Hungarian or an Armenian will 
bring teachings of anarchy into our land. There are certain 


118 


Brain Tests 


Italians, many Russians, many Poles, and some immigrants from 
certain other countries who should never he allowed to come 
here; nor should any more of the yellow races be admitted. We 
have all we can assimilate. In fact we have more. 

The people of Northern and Northwestern Europe and of 
Canada, are our brothers, and are in fact responsible for our 
own ancestry; they and their continental cousins. There is no 
reason for excluding them; nor should the law of restriction 
be made to operate against them. Let us have all those who 
wish to come; all honest classes who wish to come; all moral 
classes who wish to come; all respecters of law who wish to 
come. The true American type is the result of the old time 
melting pot in which they, with Dutch and other relatives, 
married and mixed the peoples until we have our own new race; 
and this is the race of ultimate America. Mix with it in the 
future the better portion of those other peoples that we have 
been discussing, and you will have a genuine, fixed American 
type; on whose broad shoulders must rest the task of rescuing 
this land from its enemies, the law-breakers, and the defiers of 
good government. It is to this new mixture that we turn and 
salute our future Americans. 

Immigration from Europe includes only the white race there; 
but of that race, it should exclude those who seek to overthrow 
all law and government; that is the task that now faces this 
people. Having separated the unfit from the fit, it should ab¬ 
solutely forbid immigration of the unfit. Then there should 
be a strong campaign inaugurated against all non-racials. If 
those in this land give trouble, they should be deported, as sev¬ 
eral have been in recent years. 

By adopting these methods it will be possible to create a new 
American race from the mixtures we have described. This will 
leave in our midst more than twelve millions of non-racials. 
Give them all opportunity for making themselves average 
decent citizens; they are prone to law-breaking and law defy¬ 
ing; and many of them are exceedingly dangerous comrades; 
as they become independent they grow bold and allow their 
native criminal instincts to rule them, and to hold a constant 
threat over others. Already there are organized bands that are 
watching them; and the time may not be far distant when they 
will feel the strong arm of a secret but mighty enemy dragging 


Protecting the Future 119 

them to a doom of which they have not dreamed as yet. It all 
depends on their own conduct. Now these non-racials contain 
in their ranks ninety percent of the bootleggers, ninety percent 
of the drug peddlers, ninety percent of the white slave dealers, 
and a large percentage of the armed bandits who never hesitate 
to kill when opposed. It is this state of facts that has had 
more than anything else to do with the organization of the so- 
called hooded fraternity; an organization that, while its meth¬ 
ods are illegal, is moved to compel obedience to the law where 
incompetent prosecutors and useless courts fail to secure even 
one percent of justice in the average run of cases. It is only 
in extreme conditions of aggravation and stupidity in the meth¬ 
ods employed to protect the law and the government that such 
organizations are forced into existence. They should be ren¬ 
dered unnecessary. 

The double problem therefore that confronts civilization is 
the excluding of all undesirables from entering this country; 
and the deportation of the undesirables now in our land. 

If these two ends are sought with intelligence and earnest¬ 
ness, they will be attained. It all comes down to whether the 
things that ought to be done should be done; or whether we 
should still keep on drifting down in the scale of civilization. 

This branch of our discussion relates to the 

RESTRICTION OF IMMIGRATION AND THE RE¬ 
MOVAL OF UNDESIRABLES FROM OUR 
LAND BY DEPORTATION 

If you can see clearly the truth of this proposition, then you 
are to credit yourself with 

FORTY PERCENT FOR THIS PART OF THE STUDY. 


ROUNDING UP CITIES 

This course of instruction deals with the question of a bet¬ 
ter civilization to be secured by the development of a SOUND 
JUDGMENT, which in itself trains the brain to do more accurate 
thinking and planning. In order to apply the new teachings 
to the activities of life, it is necessary to mingle with those ac¬ 
tivities, and to make use of every class of human experience; 
which will account for our employment of the familiar condi- 



120 


Brain Tests 


tions that everywhere prevail, even at the expense of borrowing 
our examples from life itself and from other works that have 
dealt with life. 

When the brain is normal, and when it has had its twists 
straightened out by training in the form of the application of 
SOUND JUDGMENT to all conditions, it will reach the truth 
by seeing it and by noting the results of false standards. 

Civilization depends on the exercise of SOUND JUDGMENT, 
and this is possible only through a normal brain, directed and 
controlled by clearly seeing meninges; for the latter are the eyes, 
or the crystal glass through which shine the truths from all 
eternity. They carry, as we have shown, the definite pictures 
of human experiences from a past more remote than prehis¬ 
toric man; and it is sure to be the fact that, when cleared of 
their muddy vesture of ill health, abnormal conditions and 
twists through misuses, they will permit the truth to shine 
through their crystal vision. 

It is one of the lowest and most deplorable evidences of a 
depraved civilization that breeding places are provided by lax 
laws and worse customs for increasing the worthless and crimi¬ 
nal classes of human beings. 

This practice is the result of the grossest selfishness; of the 
very indolent mind and purpose expressed in our first lesson 
that taught the value of decision. It is the spirit of letting 
“the other fellow do it,” which means to not bother about a 
condition that will not do harm beyond the present day dan¬ 
gers, to this generation; and the next generation can take care 
of itself, by passing the matter on to the following occupants 
of the earth; by which time, if not long before, the breeding 
cancer will have burst and have flooded the race. 

When we know that a thing should be done, the only civilized 
course to pursue is to do it or see that it is done. Any other 
method is born of the ZERO MIND; and this kind of mind dies 
with the body, as we shall show. Nature is making visible 
efforts to lift civilization up out of the dregs in which it is 
wallowing ; and she depends on the assistance of those to whom 
she has given the blessings of existence. To deny her this aid 
is a brand of treason against life itself. 

There is no reason beyond that of selfishness why breeding 
places for the increase of the lowest and most degraded enemies 


Protecting the Future 121 

of civilization should be allowed to exist and to reach out their 
evil tentacles year by year into the very heart of humanity. 
The presence in New York City of more than one million peo¬ 
ple who exist in that one breeding place, is excusable only on 
the theory of selfishness on the part of the honest population; 
and for being used as tools for the dishonest population, in 
which the largest proportion are politicians. They contain 
voters, and serve to maintain the political system that exists 
by their aid. 

When Senator Quay held the position of National Chairman 
of a great political party, knowing that many thousands of 
fraudulent votes were cast by the slums of New York City, he 
had made a directory almost as large as the regular directory 
of that city, in which were printed, as the result of a thorough 
canvass of all the inhabitants, the names and addresses of the 
entire voting population. By this means it was possible to 
know everybody, and this knowledge reduced the false voting 
to a large extent. 

The same system of canvassing and recording the names, ad¬ 
dresses, and occupations of every man and woman in a city, 
whether large or small, will indicate to the police government 
the great masses of people who are a menace to the law abiding 
inhabitants. It will also enable the police to exercise control 
over them. Tramps, idlers, loafers, and the whole slum crowd 
should be deported. You will say this will require time, ex¬ 
pense and many ships. Not many ships will be needed; for as 
soon as the general mass of slum residents realize that the gov¬ 
ernment is in earnest, their habits will undergo sudden trans¬ 
formation. Just as the deporting of one or two of the coal 
profiteers will end coal profiteering; but there must be no tem¬ 
porizing, no trifling. Just as the deportation of a few drug 
peddlers will end that business; or of a few prostitutes, a few 
white slavers, a few bootleggers will teach a vivid lesson to 
others who have made themselves outlaws; so in the war against 
the slums, the determination to get rid of them will bear im¬ 
mediate fruit. 

If the question of cost arises, the utmost expense would not 
equal what it now costs the law abiding people to support the 
idlers, the loafers, the diseased criminals, through many out¬ 
lets of expenditure from the loss of productiveness through 


122 


Brain Tests 


private and public charities, to the many asylums and institu¬ 
tions where these worthless felons ultimately drift when they 
can no longer prey on the public. 

In London, where more than two millions of slum inhabitants 
infest like rats a section of the city, the police never go, for they 
would not come back again. In Boston there is a section where 
the police never enter. In New York, the police have drawn 
what they call a dead line on the nether side of which the out¬ 
law population dwells in security; but from which if they 
emerge they run the risk of arrest. In Paris the same disgrace¬ 
ful parts of the city are left to the slums and their steadily in¬ 
creasing hordes. We talked with a few London Bobbies, as 
the police are affectionately called by the general public, and 
asked them if there was no treatment that could be devised to 
rid the city of its “rats.” They all agreed that, while these 
pests were on the increase, they did their own policing; which, 
being explained, if a crime were committed among them, they 
punished the offender, and generally in a summary manner. 
They all agreed that these unfortunates were mentally and 
physically diseased; that they lived less than half the usual 
time allotted to human beings; that they carried on vice unre¬ 
stricted; that they enjoyed one hundred percent of personal 
liberty, which meant the liberty to do as they pleased; and that 
there were many of them that died of foul and loathsome dis¬ 
ease as the result of their unbridled personal liberty. If left 
to themselves, they solve the questions of extermination, except 
that they bring more children into the world than death takes 
out of it in each generation. When hard times makes them 
desperate they wander forth and rob, commit burglary, and 
extend their criminal operations into the farthest ends of the 
city until the awakened police thrust them back to their slums 
and self-slaying. 

“Is there no civilized way of getting rid of them?” we asked. 
For it was admitted that the methods employed were not only 
barbarous but were savage and cowardly to the last degree. 
“The only civilized way would be to mow down the slum dis¬ 
tricts,” was the reply; and then the explanation came that this 
could be done by establishing a cordon of soldiers along the 
dead line, and move this cordon ever on and on, taking months 
and possibly years, deporting the inhabitants to Australia, and 


123 


Protecting the Future 

so keep moving until no vestige remained of the offence. An 
official of Scotland Yard said, “This will eventually be the 
solution of the trouble.” More than that it has the value of 
being civilized; while present methods are wholly lacking in 
all the elements of civilization. Think for a moment of the man¬ 
ner in which these beings are left to themselves; for self¬ 
antagonism, self-slaughter, self-suffering from foul and loath¬ 
some diseases, and untimely death much as the wild animals of 
the forest are left to die of starvation and gangrene. 

The practice of wealthy, and other women, of doing slum 
work, results in spreading the evils more than in relieving them. 
It is a form of unsuccessful charity. It is working at the 
wrong end, just as our criminal procedure waits until the mur¬ 
derer has killed before acting, which is working at the wrong 
end. The man of SOUND JUDGMENT who owns a valuable 
horse, say costing a hundred thousand dollars, does not hire 
detectives to hunt down the thief who steals that horse; neces¬ 
sity, because of the excessive worth of the animal, compels him 
to work at the right end, which is to act before the wrong is 
made possible. To see that the horse is not stolen. This is 
much cheaper from a money standpoint, as is the prevention of 
the murder by the death of the criminal who is armed and 
who is going forth to kill. It takes but a very slight clearing 
of the muddy meninges of your brain for you to see that it is 
better and cheaper to save a valuable human life by preventing 
the would-be murderer from taking it. The right end is to 
slay the one who is getting ready to slay; not take two lives 
for one, by waiting until he has done his killing, and then go 
after him. 

All our court practice, all our penal codes, and all our jury 
methods are archaic, inherited from a semi-barbaric past; ad¬ 
mittedly descended from an era long prior to the dark ages 
when human intellect was weighted down by superstition and 
gross misconception of the difference between right and wrong. 
There is not one redeeming feature in a criminal procedure 
that will wait until the crime is committed before acting. It 
has been shown that what is called punishment is merely re¬ 
venge; and the idea of making the punishment fit the crime is 
more worthy of the tortures of savage tribes than of an en¬ 
lightened civilization. 


124 


Brain Tests 


There will come a day when the brain will clear itself; such 
a day may be about to dawn; and in that new era we will find 
all our penal methods reversed. Ask any man or woman of 
the highest education today when it is the proper time to deal 
with crime and to punish the criminal; and the answer will 
come quickly; wait till the crime is committed. Thus you see 
that our race of so-called intelligent beings have a long jour¬ 
ney to travel before the debris of the dark ages and the cob¬ 
webs of old time thinking have been swept out of the brain to 
make way for a SOUND INTELLIGENCE. 

By what miracle will it be possible to convince the most 
learned of wise men and women that the practice of allowing the 
would-be murderer to do his killing before seeking to deal with 
him as a criminal, is as wrong as it is to make plans to send de¬ 
tectives after thieves who are to steal a horse worth one hundred 
thousand dollars, instead of making plans to prevent having to 
hunt the thieves ? Here is the exact case: This ultra valuable 
horse is worth this great sum; so is every decent man and 
woman. A thief is ready to steal the horse, and you know it; 
but you do nothing, as it is not good law to molest a criminal be¬ 
fore he really does the work he has already planned to do. So 
the horse is stolen. Then you do something. By an old say¬ 
ing the man who locks the stable door after the horse has been 
stolen, the principle we are trying to make clear is expounded. 

In the city are thousands of thugs, thieves armed to the teeth, 
bandits and burglars; all of them known or of easy discovery; 
and they are engaged in crime as a business. This fact is also 
known. Being outlaws they belong to a class that should be 
exterminated, and the sooner it is done the safer will be the law 
abiding classes, and the nearer we will stand to the new civiliza¬ 
tion that this world needs. One of these thugs waits behind a 
tree or corner obscured by the darkness; not far away is a po¬ 
liceman. The latter is waiting for something to happen; and 
when it happens, especially if some old man or some helpless 
woman is slain, and the murderer can be caught, the officer will 
bring him to a court of so-called justice, which in fact is a court 
of the dark ages; the criminal will wait his turn for trial, may 
escape by some technical ruling of a hair-brained judge; or be 
set free by political influence; or if he goes to prison will be 
the object of sickly sentimentality and eventually may be let 


125 


Protecting the Future 

go to again repeat his crimes. What a modern and new civiliza¬ 
tion will decree is this: Begin at the beginning of crime, not 
fuss so much at the wrong end: when any man is found armed 
willing to kill in the act of committing a felony, kill him before 
he does the killing; treat him as he is, an outlaw; show him 
no mercy; take his life instantly as a notice to all his kind that 
this is justice; and reward the officer who thus rids the world of 
the pest. Only by meeting crime before it is committed, can 
civilization get a foothold on a plane from which it may rise. 

The stupidity of fixed beliefs stands in the way of progress. 

We refer to the wisest men and women of the world as being 
so saturated with these old fixed beliefs that the only way light 
can get into their brains will be by following, lesson by lesson, 
this course of development of the truth, until there is crystal 
clearness in their muddy meninges. And if the wisest men and 
women cannot see this new light, what hope is there for those 
who are accounted less intelligent? 

Can you see any light at all? 

Are you able to reason or to think along the line of prevention 
as better than of cure ? Do you see that the owner of a horse of 
great value is wiser than these very wise men and women, if he 
takes advantage of his pre-knowledge that certain thieves are 
making plans to steal his horse, and checks the crime before it 
is committed? Can you see that if a bandit is waiting hidden 
around the corner, armed and prepared to kill the approaching 
pedestrian, it is better to kill the bandit before he slays an 
innocent man than to permit him to commit his crime, and then 
drag him through the farcical process of trial in the courts? 

If you can get enough light to see as the real truth that this 
preventing course is the only one that can be prompted by a 
SOUND JUDGMENT, then we are sure that you are wiser than 
the wisest men and women of the old regime who will deem 
such prevention as absurd, and who will declare with folded 
arms that the court methods of our forefathers, meaning the 
blackness of the dark ages and all its stupidity and superstition, 
are good enough for them. 

Having found some rays of light coming into your mind 
through a clearing brain, you will make rapid progress in the 
deeper and more difficult intricacies of this study. What is 
true in preventing the theft of the valuable horse, and the 


126 


Brain Tests 


killing of the innocent man or woman, is exactly as true in the 
permission of the slum inhabitants to terrorize humanity by 
their crimes and never ceasing threats. What brand of judg¬ 
ment is it that will allow a pesthole to remain adjacent to a fine 
residence? Suppose vessels sail through lanes on the ocean, 
and are compelled to pass near a group of islands from which 
there emerge under cover of the night clouds, or of fogs by 
day, pirates who kill, or who maim and torture, or who hurl 
explosives in the midst of the vessels, or who sink mines to blow 
them into eternity, how long will the nations permit these pests 
to remain there? Will they seek them after each crime has 
been committed? The history of piracy in the last century and 
before shows that by united action, the nations moved to 
annihilate the offenders, as outlaws. 

How many murderous and bloodthirsty pirates were given 
trial by jury and by the methods of our courts? 

When found after being hunted down as a common enemy, 
they were given their death sentence in the form of gun or cut¬ 
lass; and soon the seas were rid of them. In like manner the 
slums of the cities, the breeding places of crime and of foul and 
filthy diseases must be cleaned up; these habitual offenders are 
outlaws like the pirates; what was good treatment for the sea 
pirates will be the only proper treatment for the land pirates. 

Make cordons around the pest sections of the cities; move 
these cordons forward month by month and year by year, clos¬ 
ing in on the criminals, narrowing their zone, and eventually 
ending their worthless careers. Justice tempered with mercy 
was never shown the sea pirates; the hope of civilization now is 
justice tempered by steel and steeped in blood driven home to 
the last rotten core of the most despicable forms of humanity 
that can be conceived. In the stone age, during the reign of 
prehistoric man, with all his savagery and crudeness, there was 
the virility of manhood; in the pestilential moral slums there is 
nothing but crouching and cowering cowardice. 

It all comes down to the simple question of preventing crime 
rather than curing it by punishment. If the light of this 
truth reaches your mind, credit yourself a percentage of 


FORTY PERCENT IN THIS STUDY. 



127 


Protecting the Future 

MERCY FOR THE UNBORN 

As we have already stated, it is the purpose of this course 
of training to make use of every class of human experiences 
and activities in order to apply the rule of mental clearness 
whereby the truth may be discovered. This must therefore in¬ 
clude all divisions of earthly existence. Here we approach a 
subject that has been much agitated by the best scientists and 
that waits for the future wisdom of men and women for its 
adoption. 

In America there are fifty million people with abnormally 
weak lungs; a majority of whom have now or have had tuber¬ 
culosis; and while this disease is not inherited, as doctors claim, 
it is passed from one person to another by both living in the 
same house. On the other hand, some doctors insist that this 
malady is transmitted in the blood from parent to child. The 
fact probably is that parents of weak lungs give weak lungs 
to their offspring, just as a weak heart may be inherited. 

Frail parents bring frail children into the world; but that is 
not a crime nor a sin. 

There is, however, a class of diseases that must come from 
parents and ancestors; that have no other origin. It used to 
be thought that all forms of insanity are so derived; but proof 
has been furnished that some forms of this affliction originate 
in the life of the person suffering from it. Chronic congestion 
of the stomach travels along the alimentary canal to the upper 
chest, producing weak throat, bronchitis, catarrhs, and by reach¬ 
ing the lungs may bring on pneumonia. In more severe or long 
continued congestion the membranes that surround the brain are 
involved, and this results in well-known forms of insanity of a 
temporary nature. Teeth, the roots of which are infected with 
abscess poisoning, send this foul fluid into the blood and will 
affect the brain. So an unbalanced diet from which certain ele¬ 
ments are missing, will produce anemia and all anemias have 
perturbed brain conditions. All these forms are temporary and 
are cured by omitting the cause; just as when alcohol sets up 
stomach congestion and its extension reaches the brain and 
causes delirium and temporary insanity, the disuse if taken in 
time will abate the trouble and restore a normal intellect. 

But when insanity is inherited, it is incurable. 


128 


Brain Tests 


That which is acquired in life is curable unless it comes from 
paresis or paralysis due to profligacy. Paresis, however, by the 
records and history of the malady, is inherited in eighty per¬ 
cent of all cases. Here we have two sources of insanity; first 
that which had occurred in a parent; and second that which ap¬ 
pears in the form of paresis from any ancestor. 

In both of these cases the sufferer has no right to bring chil¬ 
dren into the world; for as all men are not created equal, so 
those that are created in misery should not have been created 
at all. As the law now stands any insane person or any paretic 
may become a parent. 

In order to avert this calamity to the race and to future off¬ 
spring the marriage licenses in most States require the applicant 
to certify that neither of the contracting parties is so afflicted. 
This is very good as far as it goes; but as nearly all the mentally 
weak people keep in the background and, in most cases, live in 
the slums, and pay no attention to marriage laws, there has been 
no lessening of the evil of bringing insane children into the 
world. The fact is that such defective population is steadily 
increasing in numbers. Cases of insanity are increasing at a 
rate that if continued would involve the entire world in this 
one malady. 

The sufferers from inherited insanity drift out into the edges 
of the zones where they have lived, and inter-marry. In court 
trials it has been shown that a certain defendant charged 
with murder had an insane uncle; also on further investigation, 
it was learned that he had an insane grandparent, and a second 
cousin so afflicted; in another case the mother who had remained 
at home in seclusion was shown to have been insane from the 
time of the birth of the child who now, as an adult, was on 
trial for murder; and so on in cases so numerous as to seem 
trite. 

The ultra-fashionable society of any great city; the people 
who constitute the four hundred of these big centers, are in 
nine cases out of every ten, afflicted with inherited paresis, in¬ 
herited insanity, and inherited blood-abscesses; all traceable to 
syphilis in some ancestor; and as most of the men and some 
of the women in these four hundreds of great cities are devotees 
of libertinism and profligacy, they are picking up new cases of 
syphilis to hand down to posterity. They, soon as attacked, 


129 


Protecting the Future 

quickly have their family physicians cure them as far as a cure 
is possible, and then pass along to the next generation the 
malady that could never be wholly eradicated in themselves. 

It is said that in the ultra-fashionable society of any great 
city more than ninety percent of the young men and young 
matrons are or have been suffering from syphilis acquired by 
misconduct. A doctor of the highest standing said that the pub¬ 
lic would be surprised, amazed, he said, if they knew the truth; 
if they knew the great percentage of this disease in what he 
called the smart set, and he continued, “Not one of these 
fashionable men and women ought to marry; yet they never find 
the slightest obstacle to obtaining a license. The crime is not 
so much in debauching an innocent wife, but in six generations 
of tainted blood, of cancer, paresis, insanity and abscess-making 
flesh that have to suffer for the sins of such parentage. Any 
man or woman who is the victim of syphilis has a craving for an 
intensive form of smoking; once they learn to smoke cigarettes, 
they smoke them till they die. The craving is incurable. Cig¬ 
arettes were made to give to humanity the most intensive form 
of smoking conceivable; and this form relieves as far as any¬ 
thing can the unrest and fearful visitation of this malady. 
Show me any woman who is addicted to the cigarette habit, and 
I will show you one who has acquired syphilis by misconduct, 
or who has inherited it from an ancestor. 

When syphilis is inherited it brings on the children the sins 
of parents or of forebears somewhat back but always within 
six generations. One of the most terrible of afflictions is in¬ 
herited insanity; would it not have been more humane to have 
prevented such a victim from being born? 

Paresis is also a very horrible disease, with the slow fading 
of the intellect into nothingness and the irresponsible tendency 
to commit crime while volition lasts. Would it not have been 
better to have prevented such a sufferer from being born? At 
no time in life is such a person of use to self or others; and 
is always a danger both to self and to those who must care 
for him. It is an existence useless from the moment of birth to 
the moment of death. The asylums are filled to overflowing; 
homes contain more thousands than the public know about; and 
the slums are more than seventy percent insane. Was it right 
to have brought them into being? 


130 


Brain Tests 


In addition to these cases, there are epileptics whose maladies 
are inherited from syphilitic parents or ancestors. They live 
only to suffer; and who has seen these victims that has not 
thought it unwise to have brought them into being? 

Locomotor ataxia is another inheritance from syphilitic par¬ 
ents or ancestry; those afflicted with this malady are always use¬ 
less to themselves and to others, and a burden to the world. 
Should they have been born? 

Surely the sins of the fathers are visited on the children to 
the third and fourth generation; and even to the sixth. It is 
too late to undo what has been done; to give back pure blood 
to those with the taint; but it is not too late to check the suffer¬ 
ings of those as yet unborn. 

For six generations the syphilitic taint runs in the blood; 
we are taking the statements of expert doctors in this line of 
diseases. The child of the sixth generation may not inherit in¬ 
sanity, but may lose his intellect through paresis. The children 
of the mildest form of paretic blood are imbeciles; the children 
of imbeciles are weak minded; the children of the weak minded 
are weak in judgment and incapable of winning success in 
life; and so the race fades into the masses as we find them; for 
in the last half of the fifteenth century syphilis overran Europe 
in epidemic form, and few persons escaped its consequences in 
the two centuries that followed. Hence came the source of the 
opening page of Thomas Carlyle’s History of England in which 
that great philosopher says: “The population of England is 
thirty millions; mostly fools.” 

The proportion of persons of clear intellects to those who are 
weak in mind, may be found by applying the tests that are set 
forth in this book. They are put in here for the purpose of 
ascertaining the conditions of your brain as to clearness of in¬ 
tellectual grasp of laws that hitherto have never been given to 
students or readers. These laws are true, and have been logically 
proved in those TESTS. If they are clear to you, then your 
brain is not weak in its intellectual processes. 

Practically all the masses of people are weak-minded. This 
comes no doubt from the taint referred to having come down 
from the past generations and still showing its effects in the 
race. If you will analyze almost any of the affairs of life you 
will find them the work of weak intellects. The verdicts of 


131 


Protecting the Future 

juries are among the most serious of these results. The eager¬ 
ness with which audiences accept the explanations and dema¬ 
goguery of political speakers shows the general prevalence of 
weak minds. All politicians know that they can hoodwink their 
hearers with all kinds of falsehoods and ridicule for things that 
are right and decent. 

But there is a serious phase to this question when it comes 
to bringing into the world children that are so weak-minded 
that they become a burden on the people all their lives. In 
some States laws have been introduced calling for sterilization 
of all weak-minded persons who may some day become parents 
of such children. It is very difficult to secure the passage of 
such a law as all politicians oppose it for some reason or other. 
The wonder is, why they seek to prevent such legislation; the 
only reason they have thus far advanced is that this is a land of 
personal liberty and it is the right of every human being to 
breed as he pleases. Of course this reason is not sound. 

Animals today that are of the finest quality and greatest 
usefulness, of beauty and true grade, have come to this high 
standard by care in breeding. When some derelict animals 
might have bred; or some defective beast of low and mongrel 
nature might have brought young into the world, the breeders 
who owned and controlled them, forbade. The best was put 
with the best, and the results have paid. What is true in nature 
is true always. There are no exceptions to the laws of life. 
We cannot hope that the best human beings will be put with 
the best of their species; but we can keep the worst from becom¬ 
ing parents; and in doing this we win half the victory of 
giving the world a new race. 

There is no prospect of mating the finest men and the finest 
women in marriage. No system for that purpose can be devised. 
Attempts have been made without success. The preaching of 
eugenics is very welcome, but it does not get anywhere in prac¬ 
tice. So we cannot hope for high grade mating. Let us then 
content ourselves with elimination of the unfit; preventing those 
that are totally unfit from becoming parents. Whether the 
States will be able to batter down the opposition of politicians to 
the measures that will bring this practice into use, is a debat¬ 
able question. 

One of the best and most learned and experienced physicians 


132 


Brain Tests 


we have ever known said in reference to this question of pre¬ 
venting marriages with weak-minded persons whose blood still 
bore the sad fruits of syphilitic taint from ancestry, *‘In the 
endeavor to lessen the bringing into the world of unfit children, 
the first step to take by a young man contemplating marriage 
is to avoid union with a woman who has acquired the habit of 
intensive smoking, as that is sure indication of syphilis in the 
blood to such a degree as to give certainty of this inherited 
disease in the offspring of such a marriage. Any form of in¬ 
tensive smoking is a clear proof of this taint of syphilis in the 
woman, probably not acquired by her own misconduct, but 
through ancestral crime.” 

These facts are not given as ours; but are furnished by a large 
number of doctors and authorities who have devoted years to 
the study and investigation of these questions. All we can say 
is that in many thousands of cases that have come to our atten¬ 
tion in the past thirty years, the evidence concurs in the opinions 
expressed by others. 

Our only concern is that there should not be brought into the 
world children who are to suffer all their lives, with no ray of 
hope or chance to become normal and healthy. They are always 
unhappy, wretched and pitiable. They should not have been 
born. 

Nor should cancerous parents be allowed to bring forth chil¬ 
dren. If they wish to marry, let them do so, but avoid parent¬ 
age by any medical method that the State will approve by its 
laws. Every year some advance is made in this direction by 
the leading thinkers, and opinion is becoming so fixed in its 
demands for action that something will be done over the veto of 
politicians. What will be done we do not know. We only know 
that unfit parentage should stop or be stopped. 

Such parentage furnishes the population for the slums, the 
addicts of habit-forming drugs, the thieves, the criminals of 
every kind; and they are increasing rapidly every year. Men 
who have the interest and welfare of the nation at heart have 
discussed the problem of reducing the ever increasing slum pop¬ 
ulation; some have advocated the method adopted by the na¬ 
tional capital of gradually forcing them out of the city, a few 
thousand every year; but they reappear somewhere else. The 
plan that has seemed best is that of looking forward to posterity 


133 


Protecting the Future 

and acting for them by preventing unfit parentage. Here the 
politician shoves his head above the crowd and shouts, “I am 
not in favor of doing anything for posterity. What has pos¬ 
terity done for us?” This may sound trivial, but it is em¬ 
bodied in a speech by a demagogue in a certain legislature in 
opposition to a bill for sterilizing persons who are totally unfit 
to become parents. 

All such bills have been opposed only by politicians. 

The men and women who have studied the question are all 
in favor of such legislation. 

It is an accepted fact that if you can stop all unfit parentage 
you can very nearly end all crime and law-breaking. 

Here is an opportunity for those persons who are the sympa¬ 
thetic friends of criminals to do them a merciful deed by keep¬ 
ing them out of the world; instead of putting them out of it. 
It is certainly logical. For it is wrong to bring people into ex¬ 
istence who will know nothing but misery, suffering, blight and 
crime. 

Before you can take any course that will succeed you must 
drive out of his nefarious business the politician who is your 
tyrant and oppressor as he stands in the way of all relief from 
the wrongs of the age. 

He is always the enemy of progress. 

Bills have been introduced in various State Legislatures for 
sterilizing all persons who are too weak-minded from disease to 
bring healthy children into the world; also to prevent parentage 
by similar methods of men and women who are hopeless addicts 
of habit-forming drugs, as children of such origin are, without 
exception, complete derelicts all through their lives; and also to 
prevent by the same methods parentage in the criminal classes 
where the cause is inborn and incurable; and some bills have 
sought to reach epileptics, consumptives, paretics and others, 
when by preventing the birth of offspring, the greatest service of 
humanity could be rendered them. 

All these bills have been opposed by politicians for the reason 
that they obtain many of their votes from these defectives. 

One logical reason for a derelict to take up the use of habit¬ 
forming drugs is to lessen the misery of being in the world, 
and to shorten a life that is blasted ere it begins, doomed to 
endless suffering. Show mercy to those people by preventing 


134 


Brain Tests 


their being born. Any other course is wrong. But how 
it can be done in the best interests of the world is a question 
for the thinking people to determine. We present only this 
terrible wrong. 

It is never difficult for an expert to determine whether or not 
a criminal is hopelessly incurable. Some forms of crime are 
temporary and originate in the conditions of life of the offender. 
This is equal to temporary insanity to which we have referred, 
and has its cure. But like inherited insanity, the born inclina¬ 
tion to commit crime can never be overcome; and it is a disease 
that passes from one generation to another. Many family his¬ 
tories are in the possession of the police which show that from 
one criminal in the past a spreading increase in the offspring 
has been the result. 

There are thousands of such histories, and many of them are 
published and circulated for the purpose of soliciting advice as 
to the best means of checking this growing evil. 

You have probably read some of them. 

As this course of training proceeds you will find your mind 
getting clearer and clearer with each review of such a lesson as 
this which is now drawing to a close. At first you will not per¬ 
ceive the truth which is that it is a mercy to the unborn, and a 
duty as well, to prevent the coming into the world of those who 
will be found totally unfit to live in it; whose whole lives will 
be filled with misery, untold suffering and cruel anguish. 

It is the vast hordes of such children that are now swamping 
the race; and that set back the clock of civilization perceptibly 
with each generation. 

When after a number of reviews of this lesson you see the 
truth, which is that these unborn sufferers should be saved the 
misery of a terrible existence on earth, and you decide that it is 
right to show mercy to the unborn, then you will be permitted to 
credit yourself with 


FIFTY PERCENT IN THIS STUDY. 



EIGHTH SECTION 


ORDER 

TILL making use of the everyday activities of 
life we find our work growing in interest as we 
delve in the common experiences of our national 
existence for means of testing the clearness of 
the mind to grasp and solve the great problems 
that must be met in the search for a better 
civilization. A system of training that must depend on itself, 
must use the details of which life is composed. The system may 
be wholly new, while the matter made use of may be as old as 
history. 

If we look back over the preceding lessons we will find that 
our work began with the body as the Temple, and with its de¬ 
velopment under the tutelage of Nature, and proceeded to in¬ 
clude the first great disappointments that are sure to confront 
the growing man or woman. From this stage we came directly 
into the crimes and shortcomings of humanity as a race. We 
now find ourselves engaged in meeting a common enemy and in 
studying the ways at hand for defeating him. 

There are some things that develop of themselves no matter 
where we find them; and two of these are worthy of our atten¬ 
tion; one at this time, and the other later on. Every nation, 
every people, every tribe, every group of human beings inherit 
either from tradition or from instinct the purpose of govern¬ 
ment, and construct a plan in which there is always a head 
or chief. There is no exception to this fact, whether in darkest 
Africa, in the wilds of the forest lands, in the islands of the 
ocean, or in the countries of civilization. The other fact is the 
inherent belief, inborn, in a life beyond the grave. These in¬ 
stinctive characteristics are not borrowed, nor passed about by 

135 




























136 


Brain Tests 


intercourse; but come naturally. They are so closely allied 
to Nature that if a people were found in a land hitherto un¬ 
known, where no one had ever visited them before, they would 
nevertheless have their government, their chief, and their belief 
in a future life. 

Government therefore is instinctive. One head is the natural 
outgrowth of that instinct. In all lands there is government; 
and in all governments the rulers and controlling officials taper 
off until they culminate in a chief, or head ruler. If you were 
to be asked what is the most essential thing in all creation, from 
the realms of the far off worlds down to the least speck of mat¬ 
ter, the answer would be Order. The foremost example of this 
fact is found in our knowledge of visible creation. 

We see by the aid of instruments millions of stars, and we 
know something about them. They are always considered in 
comparison with our own great star, the sun; and as this ruling 
orb is the center of planets in a system all his own, we assume 
that all other stars have similar families, but it is only assump¬ 
tion. Nor is it a matter of concern in this analysis whether it 
is true or not. 

For as many years and centuries as man has had the privilege 
of studying this solar system, its movements have been carried 
on in such perfect order that there has been no variation what¬ 
ever. Our moon makes its circuit around the earth with such 
regularity and precision that the astronomer can tell you the 
day, hour, minute and second when it will rise, or set; full, wax 
and wane; and come into eclipse; and when each tide will ebb, 
or flow, or be high; and these calculations can be made ahead 
for any number of years or centuries, even to a second of time. 
If you wish to know what hour and minute the moon rose when 
any event of thousands of years ago happened, it can be told. 
More than this, it is a matter of nothing but mathematical figur¬ 
ing to tell you what eclipses there will be of the moon a thou¬ 
sand years hence; what parts of the earth will be able to witness 
them; what portions will be in the shadows, what out of them, 
and when and how each shadow will travel across the face of 
our globe. 

These things could not be known if the order of action were 
not perfect. Even the librations of the moon are known to an 
exactness. 


Order 


137 


The earth revolves on its axis once in so much time; and these 
revolutions can he estimated to a second any number of years 
or centuries ahead. Its dip with reference to the sun, that re¬ 
sults in seasons, although quite complex to the novice, is a mat¬ 
ter of absolute certainty. So is its orbit around the sun. 
Nothing is left to chance. We are told years ahead what min¬ 
ute, and what fraction of a minute spring enters, or summer 
will begin, or fall or winter will be ushered in. Also there are 
almanacs made for one hundred years ahead showing the hour, 
minute and second when each day’s sun will rise and set, and 
how far north or south it will run. 

What is true of the moon and earth is true of all the planets in 
the solar system. Then we have the law of attraction that is 
holding the moon to the earth; in its flight through space it 
would obey the law of a tangent and speed off in a straight 
line; but just as this impulse to run away is at work, so attrac¬ 
tion counters it and the moon remains tied to the earth. Its 
orbit is known; diameter; circumference; variations; all regu¬ 
lar. It appears on duty at the exact second of time that is 
found to be correct by advance calculations. 

Carrying as prisoner this lunar orb, the earth flies about the 
sun in a similar manner, and is controlled by the same laws. 
If attraction were to be the only power controlling it, we should 
rush straight into the sun and be burned to a gas. But the law 
of the tangent keeps us away. The wonderful thing about it 
is that this law is exactly in balance with the law of attraction. 
If one were ever so little the stronger, we would be lost. If the 
tangent out-balanced attraction, our earth would fly off into 
space. For a few days we would admire the new sensation, 
then warmth and light would gradually decrease and we would 
freeze to death. But if attraction were one mite stronger, then 
slowly and surely we would lessen the distance that separated 
us from the sun, and things would get hotter and hotter until 
the nights would be uncomfortable and the days unendurable; 
and soon all would be over. 

This remarkable balance of the law that would send us off 
into space with the law that seeks always to pull us into the 
sun, is the result of order. 

Inside our circle there are two planets; Venus and Mer¬ 
cury. They are cogs in this great machinery, and run true to 


138 


Brain Tests 


the same laws. They might collide with each other; or they 
might get out far enough to collide with our earth; but the size 
of their courses is fixed and never is lost. 

Beyond us are other planets; and they might collide with each 
other or with us; but they move under a perfect arrangement 
that saves all doubt. Were these controlling laws varied, or 
not held in leash all the time, this solar system would fly into 
fragments and go to pieces. 

Our star if seen by inhabitants of other worlds may look like 
one of a cluster of stars; in fact is part of some constellation. 
We know of the many groups in the sky; of the Great Bear, the 
Little Bear, the Lion, the Scorpion, and others; and perhaps our 
solar system depicts the Politician, or the Profiteer. But 
whether or not it is in any constellation, it may seem to be in 
the line of vision near to other stars with possibilities of a col¬ 
lision. Now if our sun were to be destroyed or brought into 
a combination with any other sun, the planets would be father¬ 
less; and the moon could not successfully mother us even with 
the aid of her man. So there is the chance of ruin in that way. 

But the sun runs in its own course, and does not even lessen 
the distance apparently between it and the other suns. We are 
safe because we are orderly. 

The foremost example of any process is to be found in our 
knowledge of visible creation. Here we have order. 

In any home on earth in proportion as order prevails, so will 
harmony exist. The same is true of any business. A young 
man came from college to a humble position in the office of a 
great business establishment; and he found everything in a sort 
of chaos. Not wishing to try to run things when he was so 
new to them, he quietly put his part in order; and then as 
quietly assisted those nearest to him to do the same thing. The 
manager saw what was going on and removed the young man 
by the process of promotion and soon another section of affairs 
was in order. Not long after there came a new promotion and 
more order was produced. The influence of this new system 
was felt in all parts of the business; and from a sluggish stale¬ 
ness it revived and entered upon an era of prosperity. 

No matter how small or how great is the business, order is 
the one prime element in its success. In home and in business 
we thus learn the value of order. 


Order 


139 


The same principle can be carried to every undertaking. 
Imagine a law court in which no order prevailed; or church 
services; or a school. If the class is out of order, the instruc¬ 
tion is worthless. 

Have you ever noticed that all groups of people if in perfect 
order follow the lead of one head? Read what you can of the 
ancient kings of Egypt; they were the heads of their peoples. 
Did any savage tribe ever exist that had no chief? Not by 
training but by natural instinct does this leadership come about; 
for every tribe of American Indians, and every tribe of old and 
every tribe or people of Asia from the beginning of time, as well 
as recent, of Africa and South America, centralize their gov¬ 
ernment under one head, the chief. When nations take the 
place of tribes, we find kings, emperors, rulers and presidents. 

The first essential therefore of order is a given head. 

As in every group of great numbers it is impossible for one 
head to rule by direct contact with all his followers, so it be¬ 
comes necessary to bring around him a body of aids. In the 
army, each group has its head and the head has aids; but the 
commanding general has his staff; and in government the ruler 
has his cabinet, no matter under what name it is known. 

This arrangement spreads from the head to the masses. 

It must be so. Necessity in a bad cause brings about the 
same result as in the old feudal systems of Europe, when the 
monarch kept his trusted supporters close to him, and allowed 
them to create groups of their own in similar support; and so 
on down to the vassals. This was an example of order that 
perpetuated for centuries a system of government that perhaps 
was the best that could be evolved in those times. 

In proportion as order prevails, so will a government acquire 
firmness and self-existence; it is when order begins to weaken 
that the revolution threatens. 

Every nation and tribe has had its governing laws. Tribes 
often made them to suit varying conditions, and to meet needs. 
Civilized peoples aim to stabilize their laws. The enacting of 
new laws to meet exigencies may often be necessary; but the 
piling up of thousands of laws each and every year in any gov¬ 
ernment is exactly the same as the changing of the rules 
of a large business. Take for instance a corporation that em¬ 
ploys more men than there were inhabitants of New York 


140 


Brain Tests 


State a few generations ago; what would you say if the man¬ 
agement were to change a thousand rules every year; yet in 
Congress it is not an uncommon thing to introduce many thou¬ 
sands of new laws each session. The result is lack of order for 
something is loose or lacking in any government that requires 
or permits so many disturbances in the stability of its existence. 

Constantly shifting legislation is disorder. 

Frequent elections are disorder; for they not only set up great 
turmoil, but keep alive the spirit of uncertainty as to what 
is to happen next. If the great corporation referred to were 
to rip open its governing system by frequent upheavals, all 
order would disappear; and the business would run to the 
same chaos that is found in our national and State governments. 

But these matters will be examined in detail later on. 

What we have to say is that the existing government, which 
means its head, and the ramifications of assisting bodies, and its 
system of existence should be supported loyally by every man 
and woman who makes use of its advantages or lives under its 
flag. 

Traditional treason is disloyalty to the prevailing order of 
things, and especially to the ruling government. A man has no 
more right legally or morally to prove disloyal to his govern¬ 
ment than the child has to rebel against his parents and their 
home control. While remaining under the flag it should be 
upheld. 

Obedience to law is the test of loyalty. 

There are many kinds of outlaws; but there was only one kind 
of sea pirates in the olden days. By every right the man or 
woman who purposely breaks the law is a land pirate, an out¬ 
law. As long as we have laws, we should develop in ourselves 
the pride that comes from obeying them. Because some law does 
not meet the approval of one of us, is no reason for making our¬ 
selves a traitor to our government by refusing to yield obedience 
to that law. The eternal minority is loaded with grievances 
most of which are imagined. If the minority is mis-ruled, let 
it prove itself just as loyal as if it were ruled to suit its tastes; 
and in the meantime seek to change the conditions by orderly 
process. 

Children if taught at their mothers’ knees the importance of 
faith to the government over and above all other things, first 


Order 141 

and always, would bring on earth an ideal government such as 
we will describe before this book is closed. 

We teach the most severe deterrents when nothing else will 
succeed; and we have as our teacher Nature who never hesitates 
to take thousands of lives for crimes against her laws; and we 
would teach the adoption of the death penalty, swift and cer¬ 
tain, for each and every person who sought to overturn the gov¬ 
ernment, either by advice to that end or by any form of con¬ 
spiracy or planning. The Rounding Up method is the best. 
By using it, every hiding traitor can be unearthed. He should 
be known as an outlaw from the first, should be denied legal 
rights because that is the meaning of being an outlaw, and 
should be in his grave in seven days after his capture. It is 
bad enough to break the laws themselves, but a thousand times 
worse to seek to destroy the government that should protect 
our lives and our property; to substitute chaos for order. 

Not by upheavals should new methods or deterrents be 
brought into use; but by making such laws as will legalize them. 
Instead of ten thousand useless laws, make one or two that shall 
bring into supreme control the doctrine of right over wrong. 

Obey all laws as far as they are in your range of activities. 

Take pride in sustaining your government, and its officials. 

If new steps need be taken to remedy flagrant ills, take them 
by due process, and in an orderly manner. 

Every attack on organized government and law and order 
should be met by you with the strongest feelings of resentment 
and resistance. 

Study order in everything from the least to the greatest. 

We are told that certain courses of training are helpful in 
developing your intellect, and certain others in developing your 
usefulness to yourself and to others in the world; some rec¬ 
ommend foreign languages, some dead languages, some mathe¬ 
matics, and some great specialties; but above them all, the best 
and most valuable is that of order. 

The title of this lesson is 

ORDER. 

If you can see clearly that it is the supreme necessity of all 
life on earth and elsewhere, credit yourself with 

THIRTY PERCENT IN THIS STUDY. 



142 


Brain Tests 


STABILITY 

We pass naturally from the study of order to the use of this 
great quality in the management and control of the myriad 
forms of government that fill this land with their activities. 
There is our national government, centralized at Washington, 
but sending forth in all directions its countless arms of control; 
a complex and wonderfully constructed system with endless 
influences that are felt in the smallest parts of the country. 
When this is conducted under the law of order it maintains 
the perfection of its machinery. 

Each State has its own government, and its myriad arms of 
control extending into all parts of its commonwealth. So has 
each county, each township, each town and each city. 

The vital power of a nation is its industries; and the vital 
support is its army of producers who take from the soil some¬ 
thing that was not put there in the form in which it was ex¬ 
tracted, who make the only real gain of all the people that live 
on earth. From the producers to the industries there flows a 
steady stream of wealth that has been created by the toil 
of man. In order to make this wealth usable, factories and 
mills are constructed, and millions of workers are employed. 
Each corporation has its head, just as the nation has; each small 
concern has its chief; each partnership is likewise ruled by 
some one directing mind. The larger the corporation the more 
complex and intricate is the organization that keeps it running 
smoothly. The one great typical corporation is that of the 
United States Steel Company. 

Not only does it have a head but that head rules many thou¬ 
sands of employees; the first group being closely allied to the 
head as advisers. This plan would have been adopted naturally, 
and did not follow an example set for it by any nation or 
other company. It adopted a plan that was necessary for its 
successful operation. The head of this gigantic company is 
not elected every few years from a mass of hungry competitors; 
if he is worthy of the trust reposed in him, he is retained as 
long as his services are useful. If every four or six years, he 
were to be subjected to intrigue, wire pulling, trickery, jealousy, 
abuse, all manner of scheming and every kind of falsehood in¬ 
vented and circulated to injure his reputation, how long do 


Order 143 

you think he would remain in the position, even at a large 
salary ? 

We face and have faced for generations methods of conduct¬ 
ing the business of our national government that indicate a sur¬ 
prisingly low degree of sense and intelligence; and the sole 
difficulty now to be overcome is to make the people see the facts. 
When they inherit a fixed belief, which is tinctured with no¬ 
tions that are actually insane, as do our partisan followers, 
the task of injecting sanity is met by the barriers of long years 
of custom which they are loath to overthrow. 

To come to the point we must get rid of all politicians and 
of all politics. That will be a very bitter contest for the reason 
that these pests have a strangle hold on the public, which cannot 
be broken without tearing out some of the heart tissue from the 
dear people. There will be more mourning in this land when 
the politicians are packed off for deportation than could have 
ever fallen on a sad country from a thousand devastating wars, 
or a hundred thousand blighting plagues. But as the day will 
come when disease will be made a crime, just as walking out 
now with knowledge that you have the small-pox, is a crime; 
so the day will come when the profession of the politician will 
be as disgraceful as that of the old-time pirate, for it is as much 
of a danger in its way as was piracy. 

The great financiers, with few exceptions, started as clerks 
or in other positions of employment, and learned the money 
business; then pushed forward and upward. One of the bright¬ 
est financiers that we have ever known is a personal friend; he 
started as a lank, raw-boned, red-haired clerk; he studied what 
was helpful to learn the brokerage business; he became head clerk 
in a few years; then third partner; and finally the head of the 
concern, where he is now, and in affluent circumstances. Many 
of the multi-millionaires like to boast of their humble beginnings 
at three dollars a week in offices. 

Most of the business men were once clerks in stores. The 
exceptions are very few. Quite a number of laborers become 
merchants. Many farmers move into villages, towns or cities 
and open stores. 

This tendency to rise from employment to owners of affairs 
is the most wholesome sign of the times. It shows that no one 
need be held down. No line of employment, not even that of 


144 


Brain Tests 


the lowest grade labor, need bar the right kind of man from 
getting up to the top some day; but it requires study and 
method of purpose. 

If you will take the time to study what this complex machin¬ 
ery of business, of manufacture, of utilities, of the myriad 
branches of industry, and the financing of the same, amounts to 
you will realize that it involves ninety percent of the entire 
population, or more than ninety millions of people in this land. 
A thing so gigantic should receive the most careful attention in 
order to keep it in good running condition; and it should not be 
subject to the shifting sands of uncertainty and unrest, nor 
ripped open every few years by sinister and baleful influences. 

Yet the great machinery of industry and of trade is subjected 
every year or two to the most damaging interference that could 
possibly be devised. The result is that millions are out of 
employment when all should have abundance of work; that 
panics strike at the root of the successful operation of business 
interests; that we are facing hard times when we should have 
good times; and that five years in every ten we ride either on 
the crest of success and inflation, or wallow in the slough of 
despondency. 

The common experience of the people is that just as they are 
about ready for a steady flow of success some election is coming 
on, and the whole machinery of the nation is brought to a stand¬ 
still to wait until the results are known, and what political 
policy is to be launched on a defenceless nation. 

A change of policy in the administration attending the change 
of party means uncertainty to the machinery of national exist¬ 
ence. Times become hard. Employment that should be steady 
and permanent is wavering. No one seems to know what to do 
or which way to turn. The elections are coming on. If the 
same party retains power, the opposite party spends all the 
intervening time before the next election in stabbing the party 
that is in power. This is the fixed history of a country that 
is cursed with political parties. Instead of building up the 
genuine interests of the nation, the country is subjected to 
nothing but attack and defence between the political parties; so 
that between elections there are distrust and discouragement in 
all the industries; and when the elections are coming on, the 
pending uncertainty mars all brightness of hope for success. 


Order 


145 


Do you know what this political bickering, this rabid war¬ 
fare of attack and counter-attack between political parties and 
the constant elections are doing to you? If your business or 
your employment or your prospects were not interfered with, 
you could advance step by step to almost any height of achieve¬ 
ment in full honesty and by clean methods. But as success must 
be snatched by the gambler’s law of chance from the shifting 
vicissitudes of unrest and uncertainty, men are forced to become 
crafty, shrewd, false, dishonest, and even criminal. It is a 
game of grab. 

How much better, how much nobler would it be if the machin¬ 
ery of prosperity could run at all times smoothly. 

There was a certain country where the rulers were elected 
for life, and where justice was dealt out with even hand to 
everybody. No families were impoverished; all were self- 
supporting. A factory that was owned by a man not over 
thirty-five years of age was running in full prosperity, giving 
all the year round steady employment to its help, all of whom 
owned their homes free of incumbrances. Comforts, pleasures, 
happiness even, were enjoyed in full measure. The young man 
who owned the factory had inherited it from his father who 
had owned and run it for fifty years; he in turn inherited it 
from his father, and it had been in the family for more than a 
century; improving with the times and keeping abreast of the 
inventive age. Then came an era of frequent elections; friends 
became bitter enemies, all political; and uncertainty hung like a 
pall over the industry. Hard times, never before known for 
over a hundred years, now stalked in every home and clutched 
with its withered hand the old and the young. 

This is the story of political enmity; of political parties; of 
frequent elections made to suit the rabid and venomous spirit of 
competitors for office. 

It is the oldest of modern sayings that the country that has 
the greatest number of elections has the least stability in 
prosperity. 

The business of the government surely is entitled to as much 
sense and judgment in its operation as the successful business 
of a great corporation, or any great organization. Why should 
the business of the government be managed solely in the interest 
of hungry, greedy, rabid and venomous politicians ? Is the gov- 


146 


Brain Tests 


ernment of less value to the nation than the great steel company ? 

How many years has the president of that company been at its 
head ? Suppose you were to try to find a man who would be told 
that after a time he would be ousted, would you get anyone better 
than a politician; and could that business be run successfully by 
politics f Do you know that the steel companies, directly and in¬ 
directly give employment to more men than were in the United 
States when Washington was elected its first President? It does. 
Nearly twice as many. Almost a double-sized nation. 

The gigantic business organizations have their rulers, their 
makers of management, and their legal advisers; all similar in a 
way to our own national government. What kind of success 
would they have if every two years, the thousands of office hold¬ 
ers of a great business were subjected to re-election; or to being 
defeated by a new election; or to the uncertainty that their terms 
if elected would end in two years ? There would be the same dis¬ 
cord, the same distrust, the same grab game of striving to pose 
as worthy of re-election, and the real business would suffer by 
being bandied about just as the people’s business is bandied 
about by the political bickerings of the party in power and the 
party that wants to get in power. 

Had the United States Steel Company been managed and con¬ 
ducted in the same way that our United States Government is be¬ 
ing managed and conducted, its success would have been impos¬ 
sible ; and the millions of people that are more or less indirectly 
and directly affected by its prosperity would suffer much more 
than they have. If you were to conduct any business from a 
corner cigar store to a vast concern, in the same manner that this 
government’s business is conducted, it would soon become a 
wreck. Yet both are based on the same foundation. 

Suppose you are the chief owner of an industry in which you 
have a president, a board of management or directors, and an 
organized force of officers, and were to elect the president anew 
every four years, the directors anew every six years, and the offi¬ 
cers every two years, what kind of service would you get ? And 
further suppose that for every holder of the presidency there 
were other candidates to be pitted against him; for every di¬ 
rector there were opposing candidates that might oust him; and 
for every official there were bitter rivals who would fight tooth 
and nail like hungry sharks for such office; what of the business 


Order 


147 


character and prospects ? On top of these evils, suppose that the 
rival for the presidency was to bring a hundred charges and 
ugly indictments against him; that the rivals for the board of 
directors were to throw mud, calumny and libel against them, 
concocting and inventing much if not all of the charges; and that 
the competitors for the positions of the officials were every two 
years to drag your business through muck and mire in order to 
be elected to such offices; how long could you run your business 
successfully ? 

Yet we have here the story of American politics and of the 
American Government. It is a sad story. But the idea of the 
Republic which was the right one, had given its originators too 
great a task to do, and so they labelled every successful candidate 
for office, “UNWORTHY OF TRUST.” 

When our forefathers decided that a Congressman should hold 
office only two years, they estimated that either he could not be 
trusted longer in that position, or else they figured that the polit¬ 
ical game was for politicians, and so gave them the reins and 
demolished all business management in the service of the gov¬ 
ernment itself which ought to be conducted in the interests of 
the people. In any event it is planned solely for the benefit of 
hungry politicians; no one else has ever gained by the system. 

Turmoil, bitterness, attack, counter-attack, the hunting for 
some mistake in an opponent and the magnifying of that mistake 
into an issue, posing for public approval by every deceit and pre¬ 
tense that can be invented; and countless malign lies hurled 
broadcast over the land; this is the kind of business that is be¬ 
ing conducted for and in behalf of the government; and the poli¬ 
ticians prime themselves to the muzzle with pride in their achieve¬ 
ments as they declare that this is a government of the people, for 
the people and by the people; when in fact it is a government of 
the politicians, for the politicians and by the politicians. 

No wonder that hard times stalk in every nook and corner of 
the land too often. The same kind of management that is of 
supreme usefulness in maintaining a great business, is needed 
by the government, with only variations that serve the one end 
of making it successful. 

You will notice that the many channels of leakage of the na¬ 
tion’s finances are chargeable to the men who were sent to Wash¬ 
ington for the purpose of conducting the country’s business; 


148 


Brain Tests 


which purpose is the least and last thing they intend to carry 
out. They are thinking for themselves only, and of their re- 
election as the chief object of interest. Whatever else they ac¬ 
complish is only perfunctory. Some of these men go there with 
the sincere desire to keep faith with those who elected them; but 
they are submerged beneath the sea of custom, and are soon lost 
as far as their individual identity is concerned. 

As will be seen later on, these items of waste are but the begin¬ 
nings of the great over-taxation burden which politicians have 
thrown on the nation. Could any great and well-managed busi¬ 
ness organization be run on the plan stated, in the manner that 
the government business is run, and survive ? 

The only true test is that of a great establishment employing 
many persons for the purpose of carrying on the business of the 
company. These employees either attend to their duties and 
bring success to the enterprise; or else they fill in their time like 
our law-makers in Congress as follows: 

1. They divide themselves into two groups; each violently op¬ 
posing the other group of employees. 

2. They seek to oust from their positions the opposing group. 

3. They are abusive, vituperative, vitriolic and slanderous in 
their constant attacks on their fellow employees, all of whom are 
hired to do the work of their employers, the people. 

4. Their one great purpose is to secure re-election to their posi¬ 
tions ; and to this end they devote ninety-eight percent of all their 
time and their energies; and only two percent to the duties for 
which they are employed. The people who are their employers 
get only two percent of their time and effort; and all the rest is 
devoted to securing their re-elction. 

5. The efforts they make to be re-elected are attended by prac¬ 
tices that are wholly dishonest, and are influenced by every kind 
of bribery that human ingenuity can conceive. 

A committee of expert accoutants took up the question of the 
efficient conduct of the business of the national government, and 
rendered the following report in summarized form: 

1. There are today employed by the nation an unnecessary ex¬ 
cessive horde of people who do not and cannot, if they wished, 
render the services for which they are ostensibly hired; who draw 
in salaries more than two hundred million dollars a year; every 
one of whom would be out of employment if they were connected 


Order 


149 


with any other business enterprise. They are given this advan¬ 
tage by their loyalty to the politicians; and this loyalty costs the 
people in useless taxation, more than two hundred million dol¬ 
lars annually. 

2. In carrying on the complicated machinery of the national 
government, there is an annual waste of over eight hundred 
million dollars in addition to that just mentioned; all of which 
is forced upon the country by the methods pursued by politicians 
to maintain their partisanship through various outpourings of 
the nation’s funds. If we had no politicians, we would save 
in these two items alone more than one thousand million dollars 
a year, which must be paid by the people and their industries in 
order to keep alive the system of politics that the people have 
never been able to shake off. 

3. In the set-backs to business and prosperity by frequent 
elections, by the charges and counter charges that unsettle the 
minds and optimism of all industries and their owners and em¬ 
ployees, the country at large loses more that five thousand million 
dollars a year on an average, which would remain in the hands of 
the people if it were possible to maintain the steady flow of 
prosperity, but which can never be possible as long as this nation 
is controlled by politicians. Thus the people lose annually over 
six billion dollars; of which one billion must be paid for by ex¬ 
cessive taxation, and the other five billions by interrupted pros¬ 
perity to allow the politicians to carry on their orgies of selfish¬ 
ness and fraud. 

Either the business of the nation must be conducted on sound 
business principles; or it must remain the source of unfair and 
heart-breaking taxation that takes from every man and woman 
all hope for the peaceful enjoyment of life as conceived by the 
men who gave their blood for the winning of liberty. There is 
no liberty under any system of slavery; and every man, woman 
and child in this fair land is bonded to the worst tyrants and 
slave masters that ever lived: the politicians. 

If under the lesson on Decision you are able to make up your 
mind to take part in a movement to rid the people of these slave 
masters, then you will follow the plan that will be suggested 
later on. But first you must be clear minded enough to perceive 
that the following principles are true: 

1. The business of the nation must, if conducted properly and 


150 Brain Tests 

honestly, be managed like any other complicated and important 
business. 

2. Elections that are unnecessarily frequent and disturbing to 
the national prosperity, must be made sanely frequent; by which 
is meant they should occur as often as is necessary to carry on 
the business of the people. 

3. An end should be put to methods that would quickly ruin 
any business enterprise, namely: 

The employees of the nation’s business should not be subjected 
to plot and counterplot, to charges and counter charges, to end¬ 
less struggles and striving to oust them for no other reason than 
that some other seekers after work desire the positions. There 
should not be two competitive groups of employees stirring 
up bitterness of feeling, and each seeking to harm the other in 
the estimation of their employers, so that an overturn may be 
secured and those who are in office may be thrown out regard¬ 
less of their value and efficiency. 

Ninety-eight percent of the time and work of the employees 
should not be devoted to efforts to obtain the renewal of their 
employment. The funds of their employers should not be drawn 
upon to be used by employees in office with which to buy their 
retention or their renewal in their positions. Politicians do not 
hesitate to help themselves and their supporters, numbering 
millions, to the vast resources of the nation; nor do they care to 
what extent the taxes are increased, so that they do not pay them 
out of their own pockets. 

There is a REMEDY for this the greatest evil that ever bur¬ 
dened a people; and this remedy will be presented in the SANE 
SYSTEM which will be fully explained as we proceed. The 
question with you is this: Has your mind sufficient clearness 
to perceive that the slavery of the people by the slave masters, 
the politicians, is a vast and overwhelming evil? 

If you are endowed at this stage of the training with the 
clearness of mind to recognize this fact, then you are to name 
this lesson 

THE SLAVE MASTERS 
and you are permitted to credit yourself with 

TWO HUNDRED PERCENT IN THIS STUDY. 



NINTH SECTION 


THE CANCER 

ISEASES of all kinds are undesirable, but if you 
were asked to name the malady that is the most 
loathsome, the most painful, and the most hor¬ 
rible in all its conditions, CANCER would be 
the first to be mentioned. When it is seated in 
the tissue and flesh of the body, it sends out in 
the most stealthy manner its tentacles and false threads that 
once they secure a hold on new and wholesome parts, cling to 
them like barbed hooks. In time the old tissue passes into the 
hopeless stage of the disease and festers and rots, giving forth a 
stench that fills the house with its awful odor; and the infected 
zone becomes dark, malign and repulsive to the gaze. The fair 
fabric that a kindly Nature created with such skill and beauty 
is now a mass of jelly foulness. 

Our nation was planned and conceived in the minds of patri¬ 
ots with the purpose in view of affording to all its inhabitants the 
enjoyment of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Passing 
as they did from oppression and a rule that was obnoxious, al¬ 
most any change seemed for the better. They had never lived 
in a republic, and knew nothing of the manner in which their 
conceptions of government would work out. Already nearly a 
score of changes have been made in the Constitution which they 
created; and no less than a thousand more have been demanded. 
They believed that liberty meant the privilege of doing as one 
pleased, whether in ruling the people, or in mingling with them. 
They thought that all men were born equal and that equality of 
birth prevailed all through the lives of the people. 

Their mistakes were natural to men who were embarking on 
unknown and untried seas. That they builded as well as they 

151 

























152 Brain Tests 

did is the marvel of the generations tiat followed. Their set¬ 
ting np of the three branches of the government; the law-making, 
the law-execnting, and the law-interpreting; could not be im¬ 
proved. It was ideal, and inspired by the highest wisdom. 
Their division of the law-making body into the upper and the 
lower parts followed the English Parliament plan with its House 
of Lords and its House of Commons. In establishing the triple 
form of government, they had some past experiences to guide 
them. 

But in their scheme of re-elections, they fell down, and fell 
hard. 

Some philosophers declare that our forefathers builded that 
plan on the theory that no public servant could be long trusted 
in office; and that for this reason a cleaning out of the rascals 
must take place every two years or so. But the opposite theory 
is more plausible; they must have had faith in the honesty of 
the managers of the political parties in order to entrust in their 
care so great a possibility of harm. That it has proved harm¬ 
ful is a very mild way of looking at this scheme. 

No human body is so sacred as not to be the possible victim 
of cancer. 

Nor is any nation, no matter how nobly conceived, free from 
the danger of this most foul and loathsome disease. 

We are suffering from CANCER. 

Not in its mild form, nor in its incipient stage, but fully de¬ 
veloped and foul and loathsome in every degree, eating its way 
into the vitals of our national existence, sending out its horrible 
tentacles in all directions, feeding on every healthful tissue in 
the fabric of our life, and permeating all sections of our fair 
land. 

In the lesson just closed, we have shown by the report of ex¬ 
pert accountants that over one thousand million dollars every 
year are stolen by this cancerous power, that must be paid for 
by unnecessary taxation; and that over five thousand million 
dollars in addition are taken out of the people through the same 
nefarious influence. 

We have shown that continued prosperity is made impossible 
by the same evil, which means discontent, fomenting of treason, 
and the disruption of that better loyalty that the people of a 
rightly governed country would yield in their hearts as well as 


The Cancer 


153 


in their outward lives. There is no necessity for this ill-boding 
undercurrent of disloyalty, and it exists only because of the 
CANCER that is clinging to our national life. 

Frequency of elections has been given careful consideration 
in this training course; they are as bad as anything along that 
line could be; but there is something worse, and much worse; 
and that is the system of re-elections that prevails, and that has 
undermined the nation by its evil influence. We have said that 
the business of the nation is like that of the business of any 
great enterprise. Similar work has to be done; similar methods, 
where installed, work better than any other; and similar pre¬ 
paratory training has been as necessary. 

No thinking person is likely to find any better plan for con¬ 
ducting the nation’s business than that which has come through 
the law of necessity from the varied tests and experiences of 
great corporations; where the utmost efficiency is obtained with 
the utmost skill and economy. Such a corporation has its group 
of officials who provide the methods of conducting the business; 
its group of executive officers who see that the methods are 
adopted and executed; and its legal board to look after its 
rights and privileges; so that, in form at least, it corresponds 
with the national government. Spreading down from these lead¬ 
ing groups are others that come in contact with the business of 
the company; and so on down to the actual working departments. 

The president of the corporation may be elected, and re¬ 
elected every year; but there is no disgraceful scramble for the 
office; no stealthy play for advantage; no bitter partisanship 
that engenders hatred and vicious attacks; no hunting for some 
trivial fault which, by the buncombe speeches of shyster politi¬ 
cians, is magnified, enlarged, lied about, and bolstered up with 
false testimony until it looms like a cloud of ignominy in the 
horizon. If any competitor for this high office were to seek it 
by the aid of such friends as these, he would be let out forever, 
and he would stay out. 

Of the several groups that manage the company, all valuable 
and well paid, not one of them is compelled to stand for re- 
election ; not one is required to besmirch his rivals with lies and 
other kinds of politics; all work in the perfect harmony of a 
perfect machine. Yet in America there are more than five thou¬ 
sand companies that employ today more men than were employed 


154 


Brain Tests 


by the government in the time when our Constitution was 
adopted; and our government alone suffers from the CANCER 
that is devouring its vitals. 

Things are wrong when the people everywhere are taxed two 
or three times as much as they should be under normal condi¬ 
tions; which means 200 to 300 percent of over-taxation. It is 
a burden that can be reduced fully one half; but not as long as 
this land is ruled by politicians. 

# We propose to prove that more than one-half of taxation is 
due directly and indirectly to this rule by the politicians. 

* We propose to prove that, when this land is rid of politics 
and their sponsors, taxation will be reduced more than one half. 

It is not in one item alone, or in one direction alone that this 
excess of taxation has its cause; it is the strangle-hold that 
these parasites have on the throat of the people that is the first 
cause; and all the results follow. You would be surprised if 
you were to have tabulated the many evil influences that create 
this burden that extracts from the pockets of the people billions 
of dollars that should not have been taken from them. If we 
were to list them, you would have too much reading along one 
unpleasant line to find enjoyment in such perusal. 

They are all based on political schemes. 

Not only the billions that the Federal Government raises 
each year are more than double what they would be if politicians 
had not built up this enormous expense; but every State has to 
have its other millions; every county must have its support; 
every village, town and city must be maintained; and the schools 
require their amounts which alone run into more billions each 
year; so that the people are tax ridden to desperation. 

It is a complex system of organized tyranny, from which there 
is very slight chance of escape unless in the first place, there 
can be set up a printing press in every locality that will expose 
these wrongs and take up the work of honest adjustment of the 
troubles. 

When more than one million men obtain living solely by the 
profession of politics, we find the outflow of this excess taxation. 

The little leaks when counted together form a mighty whole; 
and also what one of our Presidents called a mighty hole. 

Take for instance one of many thousands of these leaks, that 
of the official in a certain State who received in fees in five 


The Cancer 


155 


years more than a quarter of a million of dollars; and there are 
thousands of officials who secure fees that are small fortunes 
every year; all of which money belongs to the public excepting 
a fair salary to each incumbent. 

Why does a law-maker want to see his non-delivered speech 
printed in the political Record; even with the remarks of 
* 1 laughter’ 7 and of “applause’’ interlarded thickly all through 
it; when in fact there was no chance for laughter unless he 
laughed up his sleeve, and there was no applause unless it was 
that of gratitude that he never delivered it in the open f This is 
another leak of millions of dollars; and its only purpose is to en¬ 
able him to copy it verbatim in pamphlets and circulate among 
his constitutents, to assist in his re-election. 

If there were to be no re-election, it is very probable that the 
Congressional Record would automatically go out of existence; 
and the country be spared this leak of millions, and the bad 
odor of the farce that such childish business methods throw into 
the nostrils of all sensible citizens. It is only for re-election. 

Then another leak that we have referred to is that of franking 
these speeches by countless millions every two years prior to a 
re-election campaign; this costs the public a lot of money. This 
franking by Congressmen is done to aid their re-election. If the 
latter possibility were abandoned, the people would be spared 
having to pay for that leak. 

One more leak has been referred to in the form of untruthful 
mileage collected by Members and Senators in many cases; it is 
fair enough that their actual personal expenses should be paid; 
but if a Member lives beyond a certain distance, his mileage 
mounts into a large expense; and if this is multiplied by the 
number of Members and Senators with their attaches the sum 
becomes enormous. 

The seed nonsense, a silly procedure in vogue for the purpose 
of helping a re-election, is expensive in two ways; the cost of 
the free seed, and the franking of these many tons across the 
country. Farmers like to receive free seed, or anything else that 
is free, even if it has no value. You can send a thing of medium 
cost to a dweller in a city and have it thrown into the waste 
basket; but if you send something of no value, as a farm journal 
for instance, and label it free, and let it be known that a mighty 
Congressman has never for a moment forgotten the recipient, he 


156 


Brain Tests 


will show it to his friends by the dozen and walk miles to let all 
his acquaintances know that he has been the object of paternal 
thought in the Capitol of the nation; but he draws the line when 
it comes to reading the speeches of his favorite Member, so 
he passes them along to the minister or wraps his turnips and 
carrots in them, to keep them from freezing. It is not intended 
to suggest that such speeches are hot stuff, as we refuse to de¬ 
scend to the common parlance of the times. 

Another leak that has cost the country one hundred million 
dollars a year, is what is known jokingly as the “pork barrel.” 
Even the tax-payers who have had to foot that bill, joke when 
they speak of it; like a man who laughed at a clown who stood 
in the assemblage below him as the noose was being adjusted for 
what has been called in the far West a “neck-tie party.” We 
do not intend to slight the South by omission. If a man about 
to be hung can see anything funny about it, we need not be 
surprised if the public can joke when they read and talk of the 
pork barrel. 

This simile, if it can be called such, refers to the fact that 
every Member of Congress and Senator, whose term is about to 
expire and who seeks re-election, is aided by every other such 
Member and Senator, and by those in prospect of re-election at a 
not far distant time, by doing something “for the home folks.” 
The home folks are the constitutents who do the voting and 
re-electing. 

Doing something for the home folks consists in spending money 
of the people for improvements in the home districts, or in gen¬ 
eral for the State. It is fortunate for the Member if he lives 
in a district where they have a brook, or a river, or a creek, or 
a pond, or a lake, or a harbor; for that is the easiest kind of 
money spending prospect; so a million dollars is appropriated 
for dredging the pond; it also has the advantage of giving 
employment to the local loafers, which means that money is 
spent in the district and put into circulation, much of which goes 
to the stores; and storekeepers are the best heelers for Congress¬ 
men as they have a trusted clientele large enough to almost hold 
the balance of power in an election, and this balance is thrown 
in the direction of the candidate. It is all very fine. A sort of 
natural organization that came about by its own inherent force. 

Natural organizations do not mean that Nature has fathered 


The Cancer 157 

or mothered them; but that they came about just naturally, of 
themselves. 

They become a system of themselves. 

The stores in a Congressional district are run by certain men, 
and clerks. They cannot always do a cash business, so give 
credit. We know a man who has become rich as a store pro¬ 
prietor in a country town and who conceived the idea that he 
wanted to run for office; to be a freeholder in fact. Looking on 
his books of charged accounts he found that 762 men owed him 
money, including those who lived in the town and in the county 
about it. Here he had almost at the start a sufficient number of 
votes if he could induce them to favor him. A very brief per¬ 
sonal conversation was all that was required; he was nominated, 
elected, and held the office as long as he cared for it. 

This is the first step of a natural organization. 

The next is the winning of the storekeepers by Congressmen; 
through them the men who are in debt to such dealers. 

The third step is the appropriation at Washington of a million 
dollars, more or less, to be spent ostensibly for local improve¬ 
ments, but most of which goes to the storekeepers through trade, 
through money spent among the store loafers and debtors for 
work whether performed or not, and by this inducement the 
storekeepers of necessity become the supporters of the Congress¬ 
men who are seeking re-election. 

Ask any Member how he feels the pulse of his constituents, 
and if he tells you at all he will say that it is through the store¬ 
keepers or those who can reach them, often through go-betweens, 
but ultimately through the merchants who benefit most by these 
pork barrel appropriations. 

If it were made a law that no person should be re-elected to 
any office this whole nation would right about face and begin 
to move in the opposite direction from that which they are now 
traveling. 

But as long as there is the temptation to seek re-election, it is 
sought, not through any attention to the real business for which 
they are elected, but by bribery. 

We are taxed billions of dollars to re-elect Congressmen. 

The pork barrel is nothing but bribery, sheer and bald in its 
effrontery on the decency of the country. The storekeepers are 
bribed by the influx of money much of which passes into their 


158 


Brain Tests 


coffers; the voters are bribed by the storekeepers ’ leniency; and 
by the brief spell of good times when over-taxed people are con¬ 
tributing to their greed for no other ultimate purpose than to 
re-elect the Member. 

This leak amounts with compound interest to about two 
thousand million dollars, or two billion dollars, in a little over 
ten years; and it has been going on for several generations, the 
cost of which is being borne now for the folly of the past. 

Then another familiar leak is the vast surplusage of clerks in 
the government employ; people who supported Members in their 
campaigns and who go home to vote for their re-election to show 
their gratitude. In a State election not long ago the issue was 
the waste of money through the manipulation of politicians. 
When the Governor took office he began to drive out the hordes 
of hungry, lazy office holders and clerks who were only parasites. 
He found hundreds of expensive automobiles being used for the 
private pleasures of these parasites and their families; tele¬ 
phones so used for private purposes; stationery and even stamps 
appropriated to the extent of thousands of dollars every month. 

What is true of one State is many times true of the whole na¬ 
tion. Visitors to the capital city note with wonder the vast 
armies of clerks who are either idle or doing less than an hour’s 
work in a day. Clerks themselves boast of their lazy life in the 
employment of Uncle Sam, as they familiarly call him; and if he 
were not an invisible uncle they would slap him on the back as 
an indication of good fellowship. Most of these clerks go home 
to vote to help re-elect their Congressman. A salary of two 
thousand dollars a year is considered quite too low for these 
parasites, yet one thousand of them at that pay would draw 
two million dollars a year from the Treasury; and there seem 
to be countless thousands of them in Washington alone, and 
many other thousands scattered over the land. All you have to 
do is to multiply at least one hundred thousand by two thou¬ 
sand and you have two hundred million dollars a year spent by 
the government for employees to do the work that one-third of 
that number could better accomplish; or a loss of $133,000,000 
every year. 

And this leakage is the work of Congress seeking re-election. 

Here we have about $400,000,000 wasted each time the earth 
makes its circuit around the sun. 


The Cancer 159 

It is not true that all employees of the government are idle 
parasites. 

There is good in almost everything that pretends to be good. 

Some clerks are valuable and desirable; one-third we will say. 

But we cannot say that such a proportion exists in the law¬ 
making bodies. The valuable and desirable persons there are 
so submerged by the rabid and venomous talkers that they cease 
to have a recognizable existence. 

The largest leak of all is the stampede to which the Senate 
and House are put by organizations that control hundreds of. 
thousands of votes, some a million or more. 

If the Senator could say that he was elected for one term 
only, and that he would not and could not stand for re-election, 
how rosy would be the outlook when he is hounded by organized 
cliques who are in a position to prevent his re-election. He 
could say, “The time was once when I would have stood in fear 
of you and your threats; when you could have said to me, if I 
did not vote for this appropriation you would defeat me at the 
polls next election, but thank goodness you cannot now say that 
to me. I am no longer a cringing coward afraid of you and of 
my very shadow, I shall not seek re-election. Go your ways. 
Take your crowd and your scheme for robbing the government, 
and your threats, and do your worst, which is your darndest, and 
let me see how your tracks look when retreating from view.” 

This is the dreamed-of heaven for the honest Senator. 

Now many a Senator is an abject coward. 

The day that he takes his seat in that august body, he begins 
to think of the six years ahead of him. Will he live up to his 
campaign promises? No, he soon finds that he cannot do that. 
Intelligence tells him that he is not expected to do that. But, he 
inquires of his conscience, did I not make a solemn pledge to do 
something real for my constituents? Yes, but it is the same 
old game; they know you did not mean it; they cheered your 
pledge and they liked the dramatic solemnity with which you 
bellowed it forth; but they said one and all, he will do as all 
the rest have done before, forget it. So he lays aside that cause 
of worry. 

Then he thinks of the six years before him. 

At home he looms big before the people; a United States 
Senator. 


160 


Brain Tests 


In Washington he is so small that few Senators have much to 
say to him outside of the ordinary greetings unless there is a 
close vote in prospect and his support is needed. If he can pose 
as one of the regulars who has independent views of his own, he 
will be watched and possibly cajoled. But he thinks of the six 
years and how he can win another election for the sake of the 
prestige that he has at home among the folks. His bigness there 
atones for his littleness in the Capitol. 

One condition offsets the other. 

At home he lifts his head high, and his collar at the back of 
his neck cuts the flesh. In Washington the collar cuts the front 
of the neck under the chin. At home he has a strut that is not 
offensive nor irritating, as children are taught to observe and 
admire his greatness, and everybody except those who manipu¬ 
lated his campaign, remarks about him as he passes them on the 
highway. In Washington he does not strut, but ambles along in 
the hope that he may find peace in the solitude of the Senate 
chamber. It is chiefly for his home prestige that he seeks a 
re-election. 

If he comes from some great business establishment that has 
won success through its method of thoroughness and enterprise, 
he will be thunderstruck to note that in his business organization 
the president does not spend most of his time and all of his spare 
thoughts in preparation for re-election; then why should he do so 
in the government ? s business ? 

He will recall that in his great mercantile establishment or in¬ 
dustrial corporation, whatever it may be, the chief advisers do 
not take office for a term of six years and then have to stand for 
re-election; and especially do not manoeuver for advantage in 
their struggle to secure a re-election; do not have to attack their 
possible rivals by falsehoods and venom, nor keep up a running 
fire of rabid talk in order to impress their value on their em¬ 
ployers. He knows that the same methods that are used by 
Senators to find favor with their constituents for re-election, 
would stamp these men as totally unfit for any position of trust 
or confidence. He knows that if the chief advisers of a business 
company caused as many leaks, or half as many, or one-tenth as 
many as are caused by the men elected to serve the government, 
whereby money is wasted in rivers of wanton expenditure, the 
men responsible for it would never hold their positions five 


The Cancer 161 

minutes after such debauchery of the public funds was 
discovered. 

It is a fact that any of the general methods used by the Senate 
or House to impress on the country the value of their services 
would end the careers of these gentlemen if they were employed 
by a properly organized business company. 

Every leak thus far mentioned is an exhibition of utter child¬ 
ishness and puerile greed. It has not even the excuse of being 
shrewd. 

We have had the pleasure of a personal and private acquaint¬ 
ance with many Senators and Congressmen in the past; at one 
time thirty-eight of them came under our instruction as pupils; 
and as, almost without exception, they came from the ranks not 
of lawyers but of well trained and successful business men we 
were given valuable information of their impressions on first 
entering the Senate or House; and one and all had the same 
opinion, although each did not know the others had spoken to 
us on the subject. 

This opinion summed up in a few words was in substance as 
follows: The government is and ought to be regarded as a 
great business. It should be conducted on business principles. 
The manner in which its elected servants, from the highest to 
the lowest, transact the business of the government would not 
for a moment be tolerated in any other great enterprise. But 
above all other considerations the worst feature is the depths to 
which those who were once self-respecting men of honor must 
stoop in order to attract to themselves the attention of their 
constituents for the purpose of re-election; a phase of character 
that does not at any time enter into the careers of officials of a 
business organization. 

These opinions coming from Members and Senators are very 
frank, and were spoken in the spirit of honest criticism of an 
archaic and worn out machine, the Government of the United 
States as ordained by the Constitution. It is archaic because it 
was made 150 years ago when America was passing from an 
inherited fealty to monarchies into an embryo nation; and it did 
the best it could. 

Suppose instead of being a man trained in business, the Sen¬ 
ator who comes as a novice into that august body is a lawyer. 
Unless he has been a very fine lawyer, he is in the Senate because 


162 


Brain Tests 


of his “oratory .’ 9 Any man with voice loud enough, coupled 
with endurance, if he can attack something and that something 
is the opposing political party, and can also attack some other 
section of the country, he is in the running for election to the 
Senate. If he comes from some State sufficiently distant, he will 
in every instance attack Wall Street; and this is the case if he 
comes from some of the more southerly of the Southern States. 
We once asked a very rabid Senator why he and his colleagues 
from the farther States always kept up this running attack on 
Wall Street, when there were attackers enough to legislate that 
barnacle out of existence, and the noble Brutus replied, ‘‘We 
do not want it legislated out of existence. If it should be put 
off the map, or crippled so that it had to behave itself, half the 
oratory of the United States Senate would be lost to the country 
and the Congressional Record.” 

This is true. 

If Wall Street were to be put out of business it would be like 
taking Hamlet out of the play of that name; there would not be 
enough left of far Western or far Southern oratory to ensure 
the re-election of these lawyer-Senators. The same men that 
attack Wall Street make use of it right along for their invest¬ 
ments. Yet it has a fine sound for their constituents to pile on 
diatribe after diatribe against that institution, which is nothing 
more or less than any brokerage business carried on with a view 
to meet the larger demands of its patrons. It sizes up to New 
York City. Its evils are the evils of all the brokers 1 exchanges 
in tho land; but are under far better control. 

Then the great financial interests are often included in such 
methods; and they come under the same Senatorial attack as a 
means of posing for the dear constituents and making ready the 
cause of re-election. What evils they possess are necessary ones. 
In times of stress they have stood by the Government, when 
these rabid Senators have tried to get the Government by the 
throat and strangle it. 

The lawyer-Senator who comes as a novice may or may not 
respect Senatorial tradition, and keep silent for a few years. It 
is not his nature. But if he can control himself he will not say 
much for a while. Then he will think that the folks at home 
are wondering what they sent him there for; and this thought 
will haunt him until he wakes up. He may have conducted his 


The Cancer 


163 


campaign on the anti-Wall Street issue, or the anti-financiers' 
issue, or the anti-big business issue, or the anti-interests issue, or 
some other anti, for it takes an anti to make a campaign if one is 
running for office. Then he can attack; and he must attack, for 
there is no other form of political oratory; and if there is noth¬ 
ing in sight to attack, he is compelled to invent something. 

Having won his seat in the Senate, and having waited as long 
before making a speech as he thinks the folks at home can wait 
for him to make a speech, he delivers a well prepared and mas¬ 
terly address, which is printed in the Congressional Record. 
There were in Washington for many years, certain fake weekly 
newspapers, having the proper face and head, and some of the 
other characteristics of newspapers, weeklies they were called, 
although they appeared only when ordered to be printed, and 
were weaklies at all other times, or sicklies. When a Congress¬ 
man or Senator made a speech that he wished to circulate among 
his folks at home, he would place an order for five thousand 
copies, or ten thousand, or whatever number he wished and was 
able to pay for; and these weeklies, so-called, would come out of 
their dormant state and go to press; and to the surprise of the 
folks at home, this particular Member or Senator had the full 
paper to himself; his speech being the only thing of importance 
and occupying most of the paper, except the usual patent 
columns or other matter that might have been standing for a 
generation, no doubt having done yeoman service in a similar 
cause many times repeated. 

It shows to what depths the servants of the people must drop 
in order to secure re-election. 

But to add to the childishness of this procedure the paper 
which contains the speech is franked by the thousands of copies 
at the expense of the nation. 

Now assuming that this lawyer-Senator has made a speech and 
has circulated it through misrepresentation of having it given 
the chief feature of a great Washington weekly, his prestige and 
fame as an orator have gone only to the limited circle of his 
home readers. He seeks a larger fame, and yearns to be talked 
about all over this broad land. He feels that his State will be 
prouder of him if the nation begins to talk of him as a broadly 
known character. But how can he do this ? 

If he attends strictly to the business for which he was elected, 


164 


Brain Tests 


no one will care for him. If he makes a serious address on some 
serious and worthy theme for the good of the nation, it will do 
his fame no good, as there is no interest afloat in commonplace 
duties well performed. He might support his own party and so 
become valuable, but that is commonplace. At last he makes 
a list of the famous Senators and finds that their greatness is 
due not to things well accomplished, but to their rabid and 
venomous attacks on something, anything, everything, no matter 
what its source, and on the opposite party as a part of the reason 
for its existence. 

Senator So-and-So is the best-known man in America, that is 
by reputation. He is not exactly famous. He is notorious. He 
rises every day and attacks something. It may be nothing that 
ever before came within range of the guns of Senatorial 
oratory; but it will suffice. Some foreign diplomat is reported 
in a New York yellow paper as having said something that he 
never said, and this rabid Senator at once takes up the fight 
against that diplomat; he wants to know what he thinks he is 
doing abroad, working for this government or merely airing his 
brain with private opinions, and in a long and silly talk he vents 
his spleen against every man and woman who dares to say any¬ 
thing until they are asked to do so. Having done this he sees 
that this verbiage is printed properly in the Congressonal 
Record. 

The next day the Secretary of the Treasury is reported as hav¬ 
ing spoken at a banquet in Buffalo, and as having said that if 
the weather continues dry the crops will not be as full as would 
otherwise be the case; and this rabid Senator at once launches 
his famous attack on that worthy cabinet official, taking him to 
task for having discussed the weather at all, and using words 
like these: “Why, Mr. President, does this paid servant of the 
great American republic seek to usurp the domain of another de¬ 
partment of the government ? What right has he to discuss the 
weather, whether it be in a public banquet, or whether it be in 
the privacy of his family? Then he is talking of a dry condi¬ 
tion of the country; that, I beg to state is another usurpation, 
for he is treading on the soil of the law enforcing department 
of the Attorney General. The country has never been dry, and 
for this reason the crops might be expected to be full. I protest 
for one, and I feel assured that most of my worthy colleagues 


The Cancer 165 

in this chamber join me in protest against this abuse of the 
privileges of his office .’ 7 

The point we make is that if a Senator cannot command at¬ 
tention of the press and nation by legitimate methods of attend¬ 
ing to the business for which he was elected, he will descend to 
the method of throwing sharp and mean criticism at anything 
that he can get before his limited intelligence. He wants to keep 
his name before the public; not in a decent manner, but notor¬ 
iously. He never speaks in praise of anyone or anything. In 
his vocabulary are no words of gentleness, of commendation, of 
encomium. He searches the dictionary for vitriolic phrases and 
terms. These alone scorch. And this is the man who was 
elected to do the business of the people in a business-like manner. 

This hard sought notoriety is wanted only as a means of being 
kept in the public eye, and thus making the folks at home be¬ 
lieve he is a national character and worthy of re-election. It 
is always for re-election. 

We know positively that there are many Senators who are 
opposed to the methods we are describing, but who are powerless 
to remedy them, owing to the political character of the Senate. 
There are many Senators who would like to transact the business 
of the nation in a business-like manner; but who find themselves 
bound hand and foot by the vicious methods of that political 
body. 

Would any such official in any business organization keep 
his position if he used such methods? 

Suppose all such Senators were honest enough to take you in 
their confidence and to answer your questions truthfully, you 
would receive this information: 

Why are you in the United States Senate? Answer: For 
re-election. 

No, we mean what are you holding office for ? For re-election. 

We do not think you understand our meaning. We wish to 
know what are your highest ideals as a Senator. To be re¬ 
elected. 

Why do you attack everything that happens to come to your 
notice ? So that my name will not get cold in the daily papers, 
and so that the folks at home will think I am a national char¬ 
acter. Then my re-election will be assured. 

Why do you attack business? Oh, that? Yes, yes, of 


166 


Brain Tests 


course, the folks at home get stirred up quicker if I pitch into 
any money interest anywhere. They think any set of men that 
have much money must be the natural enemies of their own 
State; and it is a very thrilling thing to see them fly off like 
a kite on fire when I jump hard on the big interests, or big 
business, or the financial centers, or prosperity. Then they 
come to believe that I am the great champion of their cause, al¬ 
though they do not know exactly what their cause is, and I am 
sure of being re-elected. It is a great life if you don’t weaken. 

But suppose you were elected for one term only, and could 
not be re-elected, how would you conduct yourself in the Senate ? 
Oh, yes, of course, that would make all the difference in the 
world. I would then give full and proper attention to the busi¬ 
ness of the government, and stop attacking things and people. I 
would do everything differently. I would in the first place be 
a gentleman, which is impossible as long as I must play the 
part of a rabid and venomous talker for notoriety. There are 
a few gentlemen in the Senate; but they never get any atten¬ 
tion from the press, so what is the use? Next I would be fair- 
minded. Now I must be something else, and I am ashamed to 
say what it is. Above all I would cease being a coward. Every 
Senator who stoops to the prevailing methods for securing re- 
election is an abject coward. 

The leaks we have described are due to cowardice. 

And it is cowardly above all things to be compelled to stand in 
constant fear of defeat when the time for re-election comes; and 
to have to yield one’s sound judgment to that fear. 

There are organized groups of men all over the United States; 
more than a hundred of them large enough to compel Senators 
and Members to listen and to parley with them; and these 
groups know they have all such legislators in their power. This 
condition has existed for more than half a century; but is now 
intensified to that point where they really force the law-makers 
to do their bidding. 

One such organized group representing over a million men 
wanted to mulct the Treasury to the extent of billions of dol¬ 
lars. Their demands were acquiesced in by the Members of the 
House with a vote that was almost unanimous; and yet practi¬ 
cally all those Members so voted in face of the approaching elec¬ 
tion and solely for election purposes; and, as many of them 


The Cancer 


167 


told their friends, in the hope that the bill would be defeated 
in the Senate. “It is public robbery; and at a time when all 
business and all industries are burdened to the limit with taxa¬ 
tion.” They knew it was public robbery. 

We put the question to one of them: “If you or your party 
were not facing an election, would that bill have been passed?” 
The answer came quickly, “No, and thousands of other bills 
would not have been passed if there were no elections coming 
along in which the Members or Senators had to fight for their 
political existence. And let me tell you right here, if no office¬ 
holder could be a candidate for re-election, the taxes of this 
country, Federal, State, county, town and all, would be less than 
one-half what they now are. If you do not believe it, come to 
my office some evening and I will prove it to you in very short 
time. The whole trouble is in this standing for re-election. 
Wipe out that evil and you will face an era of uninterrupted 
prosperity with your taxes cut down more than one-half.” 

This was the view of an honest Congressman; and is the view 
of all others who choose to speak their minds on the subject; but 
the fever of desire for another term is rooted in their blood like 
the passion for gambling; and cannot be resisted. 

But if an official of some great business organization were to 
be subjected to the same temptations that struck at the very 
vitals of his existence, and made a coward out of him, for no other 
purpose than to be re-elected to the same position that he oc¬ 
cupied, you would say that something was wrong with the system 
that permitted such manceuvers. 

Federal taxes would be reduced more than one-half if there 
were no second term of office for law-makers and office-holders. 

State taxes would be reduced more than one-half. 

County taxes would be reduced more than one-half. 

Town and city taxes would be reduced more than one-half. 

The same principle runs through all these offices, high and low. 

Referring again to the bill that passed Congress that was in¬ 
tended to rob the people of billions of dollars, while it received 
almost a unanimous vote in the House in the hope that it would 
be defeated in the Senate, to the surprise of the cowards of the 
House it passed the Senate because there were enough cowards 
there who were hoping that it would be vetoed by the President. 
This was its fate. But prior to the next election, which was two 


168 


Brain Tests 


years off when it should have been six years off, the same bill 
was forced upon these cowards by the same organization. There 
was no escape. 

The only hope of saving a brave and honest man from be¬ 
coming a self-acknowledged coward is in a law forbidding his 
re-election. 

Not long ago another bill slipped through both houses and was 
vetoed by the President. Had it become a law it meant the loss 
of over two billion dollars more to the country and the further 
increase of taxation. 

It is a fact that no Senator and no Congressman cares to what 
extent taxation is increased so that they are made to look right 
prior to a re-election. Their own personal greed for office is the 
sole motive of their mis-handling of the government’s business. 

They fall prey to the pleas of men who in large groups are able 
to deliver to them the required majority of votes to bring them 
back into office. Then the business interests are always lobbying 
for legislative protection and they carry threats in one pocket 
and promises in the other pocket. Congressmen are afraid of 
the threats, and are lured by the promises. The result is that 
there is an underground of perverted influence taking out of 
these office-holders the last spark of manhood. 

Here is a confidence given us by a Senator: “A man of 
ability who has been brought up in a community that knows he is 
honest is elected to the Senate. When he accepted the opportu¬ 
nity for coming into this really great honor, he was sincere in 
his views of the things he could do to help right the many wrongs 
of the people. When he was in the heat of the campaign, he 
spoke fervently and sincerely of what he hoped he could achieve 
in behalf of the whole country and of his constituents in par¬ 
ticular. He meant everything he said and intended to fulfil 
every promise he made in that campaign. When he was elected 
and the people cheered him and wished him Godspeed as he 
stepped on the train that bore him from his native city, he was 
more than ever in earnest in his desire to do well for them. 
When he took the oath of office it seemed to him to mean more 
than all else in his life. What was his surprise to learn that it 
meant nothing. What was his astonishment when he soon 
learned that his colleagues with a few trifling exceptions did not 
even know or remember what the oath was. Then came the 


The Cancer 


169 


influences of lobbies and of new-made friends, to compel him 
to vote against his conscience. Finally the disgrace of being 
defeated when he was to go before the people again for election, 
loomed larger than any other interest, and haunted him all the 
years of his first term. To pull the wires and sell the votes that 
would help him to retain the office, he must lay aside his man¬ 
hood, his sincerity and his self-respect, all for no purpose than 
to succeed in his re-election to a place that has always been a 
torment to him. The only remedy for this evil is to make a law 
that shall forbid anyone to be re-elected; and this law should 
reach every State and every town and county as well as the na¬ 
tion at large. I have seen taxes pile up as the direct and in¬ 
direct result of our American system of re-election. It is not 
used in any business, and is one of the most destructive in¬ 
fluences in our government.” 

Many a man has gone to the Senate honest and sincere. 

But he has not long remained sincere, and it is a question what 
class of honesty would include the motive that sells the pros¬ 
perity of a people for the pottage of re-election. 

There is not the slightest doubt that over fifty billions of dol¬ 
lars have in the past been spent of the people’s money for no 
other purpose whatever than to secure the re-election of Senators 
and Congressmen. 

And this does not take into account the countless millions that 
almost every State has likewise spent of the people’s money for 
the same purpose under the State laws. 

It is agreed on all sides that there is no remedy except to pre¬ 
vent an elected person from being re-elected. The wrong is ap¬ 
parent. The cure is also just as apparent. 

While the law stands as it is, it would be wisdom on the part 
of the people to declare that the President of the United States 
should have but one term of four years; and prepare the way 
for that term to extend to six years; a change that must be made 
in the proper way. 

It would be wisdom to declare that each Senator should hold 
office for only one term of six years, and prepare the way for the 
term to be extended to twelve years. 

It would be wisdom to declare that each Congressman should 
have but one term of two years; and prepare the way for the 
term to be extended to six years. 


170 


Brain Tests 


No incumbent should be allowed to hold the extended term, 
for it would continue the present vicious plan of pulling wires 
and selling one’s self respect in order to cling that much longer 
to the office. 

We have mentioned the leaks and the cowardly legislation 
whereby billions of dollars of the money of the nation have been 
bartered away for the sole purpose of effecting the re-election of 
the Senators and the Members; but it seems hardly a beginning 
of the annals of this wicked business of sacrificing this money 
as bribes for personal benefits. 

Every Senator and Congressman has what has been called his 
fence to mend. To the novice in politics this means his district 
or State organization that has become a machine under his con¬ 
trol or working for him in order to secure his re-election. This 
fence costs money. If it needs mending the meaning is that 
some of the supporters are pulling away, not in earnest, but as a 
bluff to get favors and benefits at the expense of the government, 
and often to get money from the pocket of the office-holder if he 
is a rich man; and it seems that the cost of election, of keeping 
the machine oiled and of maintaining his position must be many 
times the salary he draws; and the fence often is the most ex¬ 
pensive of the mending business. 

You see how humiliating this must all be to a man of real 
honor. 

Is any such method in use in a successful business organiza¬ 
tion, in a railroad company, an industrial corporation or a great 
concern? Do any of the office holders have to leave their place 
of business and go back home to mend their fences ? 

It is rare that any Senator or Congressman gives very much 
thought or very much ability to the duties of his office. He goes 
back home when he pleases; he is absent when he wishes and 
they have to send for him to whip him back to his duties. His 
heart is not in the work. He thinks of the honor of being the 
idol of the people as a few young girls and some younger boys 
regard him from seeing posters during election campaigns, but 
he knows deep down in his soul that there is no honor in what he 
does, and that he has lost his manhood and been forced by cir¬ 
cumstances over which he has no control to become an abject 
coward; all for the end of being re-elected. 

Abolish this evil, and he will be a brave man again if the 


The Cancer 


171 


taint of office-holding has not penetrated to his vital conscience. 

See him with head erect as he departs from his home district 
or State for the great Capital. His head is erect, his eyes flash 
with pride, his chest is filled out to the limits of his coat, and he 
walks with mighty strides to the train. Then see him a year 
hence going to his seat in the great legislative hall. His head is 
not erect; it has fallen not because of its weight, but with a sense 
of shame at something that he has not fully grasped; his eyes 
no longer flash but have a furtive glance to one side and the other 
by turns; his chest is rather hollow and the coat does not fit 
tightly over it; his walk is quite shuffling. In his room in the 
office building if some voter from home should happen to make 
him a call, all these marks of decadence would be at once trans¬ 
ferred to their former sprightliness. It makes a difference who 
sees the great man. 

But it is not right to take from a community a man who is suc¬ 
cessful and worthy of the highest public esteem and convert him 
into one whose bravery has been sold for the goal of a re-election, 
and by methods that no sound business man could possibly 
approve. 

If you wish permanent prosperity in this land, see that no 
person can stand for a re-election; see that one term shall be all 
that he can have, whether he is in a great or small office. The 
principle is the same. 

If you wish to reduce taxes more than one-half put an end to 
this complex system of dishonesty which fills the term of nearly 
every office holder; a system that we have very fully described in 
these pages. 

Against you will be the press. 

They are following the law of self-preservation; and it is for 
the reason that the newspapers are conducted for themselves 
first, last and always, that you ought to establish in your com¬ 
munity a paper of your own; a weekly or daily as the opportu¬ 
nity may offer. This matter will be discussed later on in this 
study. 

Against you will be the politicians. 

They live for what they can make by disreputable methods 
out of the public funds; and naturally they will be against any¬ 
one who thinks even of disturbing them in their plunders. 

Against you will be the office holders. It is their business to 


172 Brain Tests 

oppose everything that aims to right the wrongs which they 
commit. 

Now the statement of politicians is summed up in the follow¬ 
ing claims: 

The government needs men of tried experience to make their 
laws. 

This is the trump card, and seems unanswerable; but the fact 
is that when a Senator for instance has been re-elected he is not 
by any means as useful as when he first took office. The best 
men that have ever sat in that chamber have been those in their 
first term. In recent years a few of the ablest men have come 
to the Senate and in the first few months have done real things, 
and done them better than the old hold-overs. The man who 
has come back for a second or further term, is almost always a 
quiet fellow who does nothing but uphold the dignity of that au¬ 
gust body, or as is more frequently the case, he is a venomous and 
rabid talker, with nothing in view but to make himself and the 
chamber as much disliked by the public as can possibly be done, 
by attacking everything and everybody that comes within range 
of his scope of information. He hunts for things and doings to 
attack. So silly is his hot-headed spuming that the whole nation 
have come to regard the Senate as the least desirable function 
of the government; it is spoken of, not with veneration, but with 
an ever growing feeling of distrust and disrespect. While the 
House does not command the confidence of the people, this state 
of feeling is rather of a neutral order; but the Senate is referred 
to throughout the whole country in terms of reproach. 

You cannot make monkeys of the public business and pile up 
additional taxes by the methods that show only greed for re- 
election, and retain the good will of the American people. 

The newly elected Senator always finds half of that body al¬ 
ready in office; so the chamber is not all new; and this half has 
all the experience needed, and very much more. So the claim 
is unsound. 

Then Intelligence, having failed in its first statement, now 
says: 

If the law-maker has proved himself valuable and has given 
good service he should be rewarded. 

This seems all right until we examine it. 

As the facts are abundant to show that the law-makers as a 


The Cancer 


173 


body have not been valuable and have not given good service, 
but are the cause of this overburden of taxation, and of constant 
disturbance of business and interference with prosperity, that 
part of the claim must be abandoned. 

Speaking of reward, the richest kind of reward that can be 
given to an honest office-holder is to send him back home after 
his first term. He will shed his cowardice then, which he might 
not be able to do after two terms. But if he is one cog in the 
machinery that has brought this country to its disasters and 
over-taxation, then his reward should be like that offered by the 
Japanese, where the punishment should be made to fit the crime. 

Intelligence now says: You cannot get good men to accept an 
office if there is a prospect of holding it for only one term. 

The fact is that you do not get good men to accept the office in 
any event, for the reason that the profession of politics has been 
brought into such disrepute because of the things we have cited, 
that good men have no desire to smirch themselves with that 
kind of tar. If we extend the period of the Senator to twelve 
years, and that of the Congressman to six years, there will be no 
trouble in finding good men provided there is not to be the fool¬ 
ish and childish system of devoting one’s energies to preparing 
for re-election. 

The President of the United States should serve for six years. 

He should not be allowed a second term. 

Until this new system is adopted he should not be permitted 
to hold his office more than one term. 

A few Presidents have served two terms, but had they re¬ 
mained for one only, the country would not have suffered; and 
in fact it would have been better for their reputations and fame 
in many instances. We have had some men of the highest 
character in the White House, but most of them have been 
politicians, and have devoted too much of their efforts to seeking 
and securing a re-election. This is the bad feature of every 
man who has been compelled to do this. It is easy to think of a 
number of incumbents of that office who served for the double 
term, who would stand today higher in history had they stepped 
out at the end of the first four years. But the main point is 
that one term of six years will suffice, and not average more 
Presidents to the century than have been elected in the past 
hundred years. 


174 


Brain Tests 


The result will be that we shall have a new President every 
six years; new Congressmen also every six years; and half the 
body of the Senate new every six years. 

Such a Senate will have men of six years’ experience, one 
from each State, always there; so that the State is well cared for; 
and that body will become a balance and steadying power for all 
law making. The bringing into the House of all new Members 
will be an advantage instead of a disadvantage; for it will wipe 
out the old corrupting influences that make that body distrusted; 
and with the temptation removed from those who seek re-election, 
an era of genuine business management should be inaugurated 
in which the affairs of the nation may be given attention, instead 
of the affairs of the office holders. 

Today if you ask any Congressman what his chief concern is, 
he will say, if he speaks the truth, “my re-election.” And this 
is also the fact with Senators; otherwise they would not appeal 
so constantly to the ear of the nation by their sensational and 
notorious speeches and legislation. 

Life in either body is a network of scheming and wire pulling, 
trading votes, and handling the affairs of the country only as 
secondary to their own purposes, the chief and foremost of which 
is re-election. If such methods existed in any organized busi¬ 
ness, these schemers would soon be eliminated. Why, then, 
tolerate them in the greater business of the nation ? Let us pave 
the way for the setting up of a system of transacting the govern¬ 
ment’s business on the lines of any other great enterprise; in 
which those employed are loyal first and last to the interests of 
their employers. 

The reduction of the House to one-fourth its present number 
of Members will not only save the country many millions of 
dollars for salaries and expenses, but will help make that body 
a business-transacting one, which it cannot be under its over-size 
conditions as now existing. 

The most a Member does now, outside of drawing money from 
the government and laying plans for re-election, is to answer 
roll calls. Speaking is almost impossible; although Members 
have the privilege of writing long speeches and having them 
printed, which have never been delivered in fact; a travesty on 
even ordinary good sense. 

By the present system it is impossible for any Member to rep- 


The Cancer 


175 


resent his district. All admit that this cannot be done. If he 
is able in any degree to perform any act of helpfulness for his 
constituents, it is done by committee methods, or by log-rolling, 
which is also childish and silly. The straight out way of doing 
things is the only honest way. 

If the membership is reduced to one-fourth, losing three out 
of every four Members, the remaining fourth will stand very 
near in numbers and opportunity to the Senators; and that is 
enough. The Senators are supposed to represent the State as 
a whole; the Members in sections; but sectional interests in any 
State are and should be regarded as improper. The Federal 
Government belongs to the nation as a whole; and the less we 
have of divided interests and sectional claims the better. 

But assuming that the House were able to actually represent 
each and every Congressional district, nothing ever comes of 
such alignment; and with the bulky numbers blocking and clog¬ 
ging all real activities of the Members, the whole machinery is 
at a standstill. 

The presenting of thousands of bills and proposed laws at 
each session is merely a blind for the folks at home. A Member 
thinks that his greatness and usefulness are measured by the 
number of bills he introduces, and these are listed and com¬ 
mented on in the home newspapers, generally weeklies; and the 
people long afterward wonder what ever became of so many bills. 

Taking a view of the interwoven system of government of this 
country and beginning at the lower ranks of office-holders and 
law-makers we see everywhere a gradually rising scale of im¬ 
portance and dignity, of which the United States Senate is at the 
apex; and if the greater is supposed to contain the less, the un¬ 
wonted dignity of that great body should outclass all the samples 
of dignity below it. 

Taking this Senate as the highest form of dignity, we wonder 
what can be the real condition of the lesser forms below the rank. 
This Senate should set the example for all others to follow. 
What is that example ? Take up any newspaper anywhere that 
has real standing and that is a leader of national thought, and 
you will find that such paper reflects the prevailing feeling of 
the country when it makes the following comment on the United 
States Senate: Almost any newspaper will suffice; we happen 
to glance at the Philadelphia Inquirer of March first, 1923; one 


176 


Brain Tests 


of the really great and fair papers of the land; and we see this 
gem of an editorial occupying the first position in its columns of 
that date on the editor’s page. 

4 ‘ Could the whole country sit in the United States Senate gal¬ 
lery and observe a filibuster, there would never be a second one. 
In their wrath at such asininity, the people would demand and 
get an immediate change in the Senate rules. 

“Senator Pepper’s castigation of the filibuster would fit as 
well all other cases of the same tactics. There is no defense of 
the filibuster. It is a grotesque exhibition of a majority per¬ 
mitting itself to be balked by a minority. 

“There are other ways in which the United States Senate at 
times manifests itself to the world in absurd fashion, but at no 
time is it quite so ridiculous as when it permits itself to be tied 
hand and foot with its own childish red tape. 

“A legislative body which makes its own rules so that a mem¬ 
ber or two can indefinitely block all business has reached a climax 
of silliness difficult to describe. No known form of procedure 
in any other legislative body of the world surpasses the Senato¬ 
rial filibuster in absurdities. 

“Worshiping an ancient rule as if it were a sacred cow, pre¬ 
tending to perform the country’s business while juggling with 
roll calls and previous questions like a parcel of children, the 
Senate ceases to function and becomes an impotent body of 
salaried officials.” 

From another editorial that was similar to many thousands in 
various papers, we quote the following remarks of February 23, 
1923: 

HIGHWAYMAN TACTICS IN THE UNITED STATES 
SENATE 

-“For several days the country has been treated to an ex¬ 
hibition of highwayman tactics in the Senate. This is not the 
first time that Senatorial bullies have engaged in such dangerous 
methods. Brazenly, blatantly, insultingly and outrageously, 
and with audacious egotism they have prohibited freedom of 
action, and have menaced the institutions upon which this Re¬ 
public was founded. 

“The Senate of the United States is in a sorry state when a 


The Cancer 


177 


great majority can be gagged by a puny few in numbers, and 
rendered helpless. Self respect and proper regard for constitu¬ 
tional guarantees ought to compel that body to revise its rules 
so that it can transact the business of the country for which it 
was elected, and for which the nation is taxed millions of dollars 
every year uselessly. 

4 ‘All the while there is the underground dangerous feeling of 
hatred for government, given new incentives by this treasonable 
abuse of the rights of the people, alike shameless and childishly 
silly. ’ ’ 

That there have been and still are a few Senators who wish to 
be free from the shackles of political cowardice, may be seen 
from the speech of Senator Calder, of New York State, as he 
bade farewell to his high office in Washington, on March first, 
1923. It is when these men are free that we get the truth from 
them; never otherwise. Senator Calder is quoted in all the 
papers that have been called to our attention from various parts 
of the land as follows: ‘ ‘ He severely arraigned the United 

States Senate for its lack of courage, which is a mild term for 
cowardice. He said ‘the votes of the Senate are controlled by 
fear—fear of political consequences. The trouble here is that 
we have been afraid to tell the truth; to act on the truth; to be 
honest. We are afraid of every move we make and of every 
vote we cast. A re-elected Senator recently confessed to me 
that he voted not as he believed, but as he feared he should in 
order to save himself politically. 

“ ‘IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE MEN WHO REPRESENT 
THE NATION IN CONGRESS REALIZE WHAT THIS 
SERIOUS STATE OF AFFAIRS WILL EVENTUALLY 
LEAD TO IN OUR NATIONAL LIFE?’ ” 

In commenting on the above speech all the leading papers 
agreed with the sentiments expressed; and a single quotation 
may suffice to indicate the high feeling of the nation at large: 
“Senator Calder quotes an un-named Senator in this confession 
and remarks somewhat cynically that his ‘anonymous friend 
might be one of a number of Senators/ The manner in which 
legislative bodies are manipulated is no secret. The cowardice 
of political office holders is in part the consequence of their 
inability to see the needs of the people, and to look no further 
than their own selfish desire to hold onto their offices.” 


178 


Brain Tests 


The people desire and demand that this government be con¬ 
ducted as any great business enterprise must be conducted, in a 
business-like way, and on business principles. 

That the Senate is defiant of the overwhelming public opinion 
against it, is seen from the fact that it will not take heed of the 
demands of the nation. Fair warning was given in the widest 
publicity by United States Senator, Davis W. Elkins, in a pub¬ 
lished statement that appeared in May, 1920, in one of the most 
extensively read magazines in America. We quote from Sen¬ 
ator Elkins: 

“The administration of the Government is a business proposi¬ 
tion. It follows that the United States Senate is a business 
proposition. Modern business methods aim to expedite. The 
Senate’s rules operate to delay, retard, frustrate, to give un¬ 
warranted power for harassment and mischief to minorities. 
Debate is overdone in the Senate. The sky is the limit. One 
Senator spoke for seventeen hours, another for sixteen hours, 
another for three days, and another killed unlimited time by 
reading every word of a copy of the Washington Post, beginning 
at the first column and reading every line of the whole paper 
including the advertisements. What an astonishing waste of 
the people’s time and the people’s money!” 

While the Senator was slowly reading and commenting on 
every line and every word of that large and voluminous daily 
newspaper, the BUSINESS OF THE ENTIRE NATION WAS 
SUFFERING FROM NEGLECT! 

Imagine, if you will, any business organization permitting its 
employees to act in this childish, silly and helplessly paralyzing 
manner. No wonder the public press has recently said: ‘ 1 Could 

the whole country sit in the Senate gallery and witness a fili¬ 
buster, THERE WOULD NEVER BE A SECOND ONE. In 
their WRATH at such ASININITY, the people would demand 
and get a change in the Senate’s rules.” The word ASININITY 
just fits both the Senate and their methods. 

In the first three days of March, 1923, this asininity cost the 
people a loss of $100,000,000. And that was only three days’ 
loss. The same Senate has cost them billions more. 

Every year, without exception, the nation is over-taxed more 
than $3,000,000,000—three billion dollars!—by Federal taxation 
alone. Do you know what that means ? It means the paralyzing 


The Cancer 


179 


of half of the industry of the country; the choking to death of 
half of the prosperity of the people, the robbing of the working 
and middle classes with the others, for all the necessaries of life 
are criminally high. And all this is done in order that the 
United States Senators, the elected employees of the people, may 
pose for re-election. It is abject selfishness, greed of office, itch¬ 
ing for notoriety,, thinking of self only, disdaining contemptu¬ 
ously the rights of the public, really informing the people that 
it is none of their business what the Senators do after they are 
elected; it is all these vicious influences that are costing the 
nation its very soul. 

How long are you going to submit like lambs led to slaughter, 
to this burden of over-taxation? 

How long are you going to permit these greedy politicians to 
take from you, and from your family, the opportunities of secur¬ 
ing a living, and the possibilities of reaping a deserved reward 
from your labors through an uninterrupted era of prosperity? 
Until you take matters in your own hands, you will suffer still 
more and more from the robbery of over-taxation, until the last 
drop of blood is sucked from your vitals, and you drop to earth 
crushed beneath the load that you can no longer carry. 

You and your money, your property and your rights are all 
sacrificed on the altar of greed to feed fat these Senators, and 
their political ilk. 

How much longer will you submit ? 

You cannot do anything to bring freedom from this tyranny 
by merely reading this book, and forgetting the matter. You 
must do something and at once. Delay now is dangerous. The 
enemies of an orderly government are not delaying. They 
are actively organizing, but in secret, and with threatening 
rumblings of the bursting of the coming storm. You cannot re¬ 
main idle and leave it to your neighbor to start things. YOU 
are charged by all that you hold most dear in life, to call to¬ 
gether your friends and neighbors and to formulate some plan 
of ACTION. 

Now is the time to organize. Delay is dangerous! 

There is a dangerous undercurrent of unrest in this land , 
fostered by unprincipled demagogues and teachers of anarchy 
and bloodshed; who are biding their time to break forth in rev¬ 
olution and overthrow this government . 


180 


Brain Tests 


You can by methods of thoughtful preparation and execution 
create a new public sentiment that shall drive from power the 
men, the politicians and the whole cancerous infection of po¬ 
litical parties, in an ORDERLY MANNER and BY DUE 
PROCESS OF LAW, if you will begin now to crystallize a new 
public opinion based on the principles of sanity. 

To set men thinking, to open their eyes, to arouse in them a 
knowledge of the source of their wrongs, their double taxation, 
and the constant interference with the flow of prosperous times, 
adopt the following course. Go back a few pages, and copy the 
foregoing revised definition of the United States Senate; if you 
can afford it, have a few copies made on typewriter or in printed 
form; and hand them to a few friends. Also have a pen and 
ink copy made in larger form on a placard and hung up in your 
office, or in your home. 

This is to start people thinking. 

Such a movement when it becomes nation-wide will bring 
quick results. 

It is sure to be effective and is inexpensive. 

It will bring about changes in our government by due process 
of law and in an orderly manner. 

Why we select as an example the United States Senate is be¬ 
cause it is the highest and most responsible body in its duties 
to the nation, and should lead in obeying the mandates of the 
people that have elected it. If it fails, all below it is worthless. 

There are some Senators, too few indeed, who would do the 
business of the nation in a business like manner; and who con¬ 
fess their total disapproval of these methods. They are now 
and always have been desirous of making new rules for the pro¬ 
cedure of this body; but they admit their utter helplessness in 
the face of the most iniquitous political influences. One of them 
said to a personal friend: “ We are tied and bound tighter than 

other bandits tie and bind their victims by the most pernicious 
system of greed for office that is the one and only purpose of 
Senate existence. Men who are honest or were honest other¬ 
wise, are selling out the tax-payers of the country for their own 
private political gain; to get into office. All this chicanery in 
the Senate is done in the interest of their members who are will¬ 
ing to cast overboard all the rights of the people in order to get 
votes for re-election, and to have party control renewed. It is a 


The Cancer 


181 


game of personal greed. Every filibuster is a bid for tbe bribery 
of votes inspired by the lowest and basest cupidity.” This is 
the private opinion of the few honest Senators; ask them and 
see. 

But these principles of greed for office will never be cured 
except by an avalanche of changed public opinion. 

You may be rich now, or if not you may some day have enough 
of this world’s goods to render you independent of all the losses 
and excessive taxes that are thrust upon you by this CANCER 
of politics. But in all fairness answer the following question: 

If you controlled, managed or had voice in the management of 
any business enterprise, how long would you retain in your em¬ 
ploy men who devoted ninety-eight percent of their time, and 
half of your fortune in keeping themselves employed under you 
through schemes that split all your workers into two or more 
hostile camps, each called a party, and each constantly aiming to 
besmirch the others with falsehood and trickery? Would you 
choose rather that your employees gave all their time to their 
duties, and did not steal or misappropriate your funds for 
feathering their own nests and bribing their supporters for re¬ 
tention in your service ? 

As long as re-elections are possible in this country so long will 
we have degraded office-holders, spending your money in efforts 
for their own retention in office; so long will we have neglected 
service; so long will we have bribed lawmakers; so long will we 
have disrupted forces of employees; so long will we have 

Senators and Congressmen who are dishonest. 

Senators and Congressmen who are cowards. 

The politician is abroad in the land to tell you that all these 
facts are inventions; he will juggle figures to prove to you that 
your taxes are extraordinarily low; he will seek to prove to you 
that this country, without experienced lawmakers holdiug over 
by re-election, will be in the hands of raw and untried men; and 
he will preach the sanctity and sacredness of the profession of 
politics as the noblest on earth. 

If we cannot prove, ere this book is ended, that he is as false 
as his avocation, and that there is a system that meets all objec¬ 
tions from all honest minds, we will acknowledge that our battle 
for a true civilization is in vain. But do not make the mistake 
of underestimating his ability. The politician is schooled in 


182 


Brain Tests 


sophistry and falsehood so perfectly that he can pull the wool 
over the eyes of some of the most astute thinkers in this country. 
He has oratory, emotionalism, logic in the seeming, doctored sta¬ 
tistics, and all the equipment for convincing his hearers and 
readers that wrong is right, that night is day, that abject 
slavery is personal liberty, that the yoke is pleasanter than free¬ 
dom, that the bandit and murderer are public blessings because 
they distribute wealth, and that there is nothing wrong with our 
national affairs despite the fact that a secret distrust is fast 
crystallizing against the politicians who may at any day become 
the victims of an uprising that shall sweep the government from 
its moorings; for the uneasy classes whose necks are breaking 
under the yoke of these slave masters, the politicians, are numer¬ 
ous and are being organized far and wide. 

To aid the smooth political orator and the convincing speaker 
who seeks to make you believe that an upside world is the best 
kind of a world in which to dwell, there are thousands of news¬ 
papers whose income is greatly increased by frequent elections, 
by bitter rivalry, by charges and counter charges during heated 
campaigns, and by all sorts of political intrigues that give spice 
to their red-handed news. They will fight until the last ditch 
against the sane plan of honesty in politics. It will be an act of 
kindness to them to show them that there will be new sources 
of revenue for their dividends and profits in a better form of 
government. If this does not convince them that decent jour¬ 
nalism is worth trying, there are many people now of wealth who 
are willing at once to establish newspapers that shall stand for 
the upward trend of civilization. 

Our position is this: 

1. The system of re-elections must be abolished, absolutely and 
forever, by a clean sweep of the whole business, and a cutting 
out of the CANCER of politics. How it is to be done is our 
work herein. 

2. In its place, as we promise to show and prove, a perfect 
system is to be inaugurated, having no objections whatever. 

For the present time all that you need determine is whether 
or not your mind is clear enough to see that all re-elections 
should be abolished. If you have attained this degree of prog¬ 
ress then you are permitted to credit yourself with 

TWO HUNDRED PERCENT IN THIS STUDY. 


TENTH SECTION 



PARTY EVILS 

ANY WRONGS ARB ENDURED because they 
are so deeply grafted in the lives of the people 
that they know no cure for them. Evils are 
passed down like heritages from one generation 
to another until they are accepted as part of the 
plan of living, and are not questioned. The most 
notable example of this kind of evil is the fixed notion that polit¬ 
ical parties are necessities. We shall show that they are wholly 
unnecessary. 

We have seen that the frequency of elections is the cause of 
nearly all disturbances to business and good times; and that elec¬ 
tions should not occur oftener than once in six years; with all 
kinds of elections State and National, and every other sort, fall¬ 
ing on the same year and in the same part of the year, so as to 
have them over with, and done for until another six years shall 
come around. By adopting this plan, business and prosperity, 
work of all kinds and employment at good times wages, will pre¬ 
vail and be benefited. 

Then we found that the vicious idea of re-election was costing 
the people so heavily that, if abolished, taxes would be reduced 
more than one-half, and other blessings follow. 

We now come to a set of wrongs that are due to the formation 
of political parties, and the persistence of their struggles for 
supremacy. 

Our position is entirely new, and will if considered extensively 
be met with both opposition and ridicule. But we are right and 
will prove it. No valuable idea was ever launched on the world 
unless it met with ridicule. In this case the new plan pinches 
so many tender feet that the protests will be unusually vigorous. 

183 











































184 


Brain Tests 


It will be opposed first of all by the politicians, for they obtain 
their living by the conflict between political parties; and when 
yon strike at the source of income, you will waken a bitter 
resistance. 

It will be opposed by office holders and candidates for office, 
for they are our legitimate targets. 

It will be opposed by the press, for much of their income is 
derived from the value of political news, political fights, and 
party advertising; and the press is always most stalwart in its 
fight when its bread-basket is in danger. 

It will be opposed by the old fogies who have come to believe 
that their particular party is ordained by heaven to rule the 
earth; and like the old codger in West Virginia who at this time 
is still voting for Andrew Jackson for President, not having 
heard of his death, there are Whigs and Tories all through this 
land who stick to party closer than pitch to a pine stick. 

The political speakers and demagogues tell the public to study 
politics; it is the noblest of all things; the grandest of all insti¬ 
tutions ; the one greatest theme of all time. By this inducement 
they seek perpetual freedom to go on getting their living at the 
public expense. 

Never believe a political speaker. 

One great party points with pride to its origin, not recalling 
the fact that it had a very mongrel origin. Another party 
preaches that it has been ordained by the Creator for a high 
calling, to make the nation the greatest on earth. It too had a 
very mixed and uncertain origin and has passed through many 
vicissitudes. If you go back to the time of Washington in his¬ 
tory, you will learn that parties came into existence without 
reference to any fixed principle. They simply had to come, 
owing to the crude condition of affairs. 

No definite party lines were drawn at first. When Jackson 
built his organization, he was almost wholly independent of its 
control. He ruled it and had no use for its assistance. But he 
is called the founder of one of the present parties. After his 
time there were several new parties; and just before the Civil 
War, what was a new or very young party came into power; and 
the party of Jackson was split in three parts, not one of which 
actually survives at this time, even if the name be used. 

Since the Civil War no less than nine national parties have 


185 


Party Evils 

been organized; and had any of them come into power to the 
displacement of the two greater organizations, their following 
would have been composed of the older parties from necessity. 
When Greeley ran for President, backed by the Democrats and 
by the independent Republicans, party lines were broken and 
even shattered; showing that they have no inborn value. When 
the Gold Democrat party opposed the Democratic nominee for 
the Presidency, it was formed not only of Democrats but of 
Republicans; so there were really two new parties then running 
in chief, with three lesser and two greater trailing. 

These facts are cited to show that there is no such thing as the 
‘ 1 party of our fathers.” The old joke that John Smith voted a 
certain ticket because his father and grandfather had done so, has 
passed out of vogue. Only old fogies are partisans because their 
ancestors have been. And old fogies have no standing in the 
nation. 

We always have had two leading parties; that is since we 
began to take on the greatness of national life. But prior to the 
Civil War they were badly fractured. Since then they have held 
their position as the leading organizations. Yet less than two 
percent of their following have adhered to them all the time. 
Ninety-eight percent have changed their votes to suit their real 
convictions; many voted for President Cleveland who had always 
opposed his party. The fact that in a State like New York that 
had been overwhelmingly Republican, he could not only wipe 
out that majority but pile up nearly two hundred thousand votes 
against it, shows that he changed nearly half a million votes; and 
these of necessity came from the opposition party; they had no 
other source. President Wilson changed in proportion a similar 
majority. President Roosevelt did the same thing in his first real 
election for the office. In any one campaign taking the country 
at large, millions of votes have been changed into what are called 
landslides. 

This shows that there are no such conditions as party fealty 
and allegiance. Independence in the elections is becoming the 
fashion because people seek to rebuff the men they send by com¬ 
pulsion into the law-making bodies. It is now common history 
that when a party has been in power for a few years, the people 
turn against it; elections seesaw. 

As frequency of elections disturbs business and checks good 


186 


Brain Tests 


times, and as re-elections render the law-makers useless to the 
people and cause a great increase of taxation, so now we find 
that political parties are guilty of both classes of offences; they 
prevent the steady and perpetual flow of prosperity and they 
bring on hard times; in addition to which they are the source of 
the burden of excessive taxation. These facts we shall proceed 
to show. 

We have described the Senator who controls a political organi¬ 
zation in his own State; and the Member of Congress who con¬ 
trols one in his district. We have made it clear that government 
funds are wasted in many leaks and in much corrupt legislation 
in order that this political machine may be kept oiled and in run¬ 
ning order. 

The first thing to discuss is the belief on the part of the public 
that political parties are necessary. This belief is preached 
into them by all political speakers and writers and by the press. 
Newspapers reap the greatest harvest from this belief, not only 
in the abnormal agitation that it causes everywhere, the fights, 
battles, struggles for supremacy and general accounts of what 
is going on, but in campaign advertising; so that the press will 
advocate this or any system that supplies both its news and its 
income; as these two supports make the business profitable. 

The cure of this evil is to be found in the setting up of news¬ 
papers that shall have the interest of the public at heart. It is 
now the turn of the people to have a press of their own; and to 
show what is meant by a real free press. 

Political speakers, acting under the law of self-preservation, 
preach the permanency of parties; and advance all the reasons 
they can think of; in fact they have many seemingly good rea¬ 
sons; and it is apparent that they school themselves in these 
things, just as college students who wish to earn some money in 
their vacations take up agencies for selling goods, and are 
trained in lines of “talk” to make their progress easy. These 
lines of talk are parroted and convince as they are poured out. 

The political speaker who preaches the value of politics as the 
one great profession for the people, adds to his line of talk the 
gift of eloquence and oratory that drives the ideas home so that 
they are received with enthusiasm. Even a really great Senator 
not long ago made it a point everywhere to tell his audiences that 
every man and woman should study politics: “Go into this as 


187 


Party Evils 

a profession,’’ he said. “Make it your life work, for it can be 
made the greatest of all the professions .* 1 —If politics were 
to be constructed as a real profession seeking to serve the people, 
it would require quite a different treatment from that which 
prevails. Here are the characteristics of politics as now 
practiced: 

1. This so-called profession changes honorable and honest 
men into dishonest and dishonorable men; and those that escape 
this change are so few as to be almost inconsiderable. Every 
party vote in Congress is of necessity dishonest and dishonor¬ 
able, for the reason that there are no public questions so nicely 
balanced as to be capable of being divided into two parts, each 
part coextensive with the number of partisans voting for them. 
If a measure is defeated by a party vote, it demonstrates the 
fact that one party favored it because it was favored by the 
party, and the other party opposed it because it was opposed 
by that party. A lawmaker who will vote for a law because 
his party votes for it, is dishonest; he should vote for it for the 
good it will do his employers, the people; for the merit it con¬ 
tains in and of itself. Party votes are blind decisions, the blind 
leading the blind. There never was a party vote, strictly 
speaking, that was either honest or honorable. Party measures 
are dust thrown in the eyes of the people to convince them that 
the party is looking after their interests. 

The test of honesty in any vote is this: If the same number 
of men, having the same knowledge and experience, were as¬ 
sembled in a hall and were given all the facts in the case, and 
then asked to render their opinions and pass upon the merits 
of the matter by a vote; and if these men never knew party 
allegiance; the result would be the determination of the matter 
on the various points of merit. If there were meritorious ad¬ 
vantages on the one side, and others on the other side, and if one 
set of advantages outweighed another set, honest minds would 
analyze them by the rules of strict honesty, and there would be 
no party vote one way or the other. But to be driven like sheep 
into a decision one way or the other solely to favor a measure 
because the party favors it, or to oppose it because the party 
opposes it, is abject dishonor and dishonesty. Hence the first 
effect of party allegiance is to turn honest men into dishonest 
men. 


188 


Brain Tests 


2. The so-called profession of politics makes brave men 
cowards. No man is brave after he sells the business of the 
country for his own personal gain. No man is brave who votes 
for a measure that extracts millions or billions of dollars from 
the taxpayers, in order to help his own re-election, when if he 
were not a candidate for re-election, he would vote as honestly 
as his honor permitted. All lawmakers who have come into 
office with clean consciences and honest souls, have sold these 
qualities for the pottage of re-election; have fostered enormous 
taxes on the people for their own private profit; and brand 
themselves when they take an inventory of their changed char¬ 
acter, as cowards. Of all the cowards in history there are none 
so abjectly degraded as these lawmakers who have been responsi¬ 
ble for the burden of taxes now being borne by their fellow 
beings. These taxes are driving farmers from their farms by 
the thousands every year; and the farmers are in fact the 
standard bearers of the one greatest profession on earth. There 
need be nothing in farming that should make a man either dis¬ 
honest or a coward; but in the profession of politics it is im¬ 
possible to enter that under-world of moral character and re¬ 
main a real man. For the worthless thing called office, and the 
still more worthless prize known as re-election, good men have 
fallen to the lowest depths of dishonor and cowardice. Is that 
the profession that you wish to enter, and to make your life 
work? 

3. The so-called profession of politics compels a man to make 
bedfellows with criminals, gamblers, white slavers, prostitutes, 
and all forms of lawbreakers, and slum life in its slimiest dregs; 
for political parties cannot exist without the votes that are cast 
by these elements. The top men in a political party have their 
henchmen, and through these they know every vote everywhere; 
and a vote is a vote whether cast by a loyal citizen or by a law¬ 
breaker. When one of these lawbreakers is arrested and brought 
before a politically elected judge, there is a call for the hench¬ 
men, and a demand for protection. The judge goes as far as he 
dares in allowing the criminal to escape, and himself hunts up 
technicalities to use in the favor of the offender. The result is 
that it is difficult to suppress crime as long as politics protects 
the criminals. Is that the kind of a profession you wish to 
adopt? If you are ignorant of these facts, it is because your 


189 


Party Evils 

experience is limited, or your mind infantile. Everybody that 
knows anything of party rule knows that all parties make bed¬ 
fellows with everybody and everything that has a vote. As an 
instance, the criminal slums of New York City would be exter¬ 
minated very quickly if there were no longer political influence 
to protect them and to use them for voting purposes. 

4. In return for the votes they receive, politicians protect 
every form of vice. Gambling which ruins millions in a decade, 
which takes out of the young life all its ambition to win success 
by merit, which has caused more suicides than any other one 
agency, which has made millions of men thieves, most of them 
stealing and embezzling from those who have trusted them, 
which has leveled great estates to poverty, which has driven 
into insanity thousands of young women who have been lured 
by its wiles into paths of venture that left them mental der¬ 
elicts, and which secures so strong a hold on the minds of men 
and women that it cannot be shaken this side of the grave;— 
this vice exists in this country by the grace of politics. Being 
permitted to carry on its death making work by exchanging its 
support of politicians for its protection against genuine prosecu¬ 
tion, it thrives and prospers. Do you wish to enter a profession 
of that kind? 

5. The judiciary should be above suspicion. When they are 
not, they are the mockery of justice. But we know that all 
elected magistrates and judges are put in office by the votes of 
gamblers, of thieves, of bandits, of prostitutes, and of all classes 
of law-breakers, whether they choose such support or not. 
Every now and then some noted thief or gambler is let out of 
court by some technical ruling made by an elected judge, who 
very elaborately and learnedly expounds the law. A feeling of 
revulsion goes over the community, as it always does when a 
criminal is set free on some technicality, but there is the silent 
belief that this elected judge was either paying for the votes of a 
certain gang of the last election, or was bidding for a renewal of 
votes for one to come. It is the saddest part of our history 
that the judiciary cannot be separated from politics, and es¬ 
pecially from the most degraded form of this cancer. Where 
the public has a right to look for justice, it is given the increas¬ 
ing danger of more crimes and of more murders and of greater 
peril to the republic itself. 


190 


Brain Tests 


6. It lias been said a thousand times that if the police were to 
be withdrawn for twenty-four hours from a great city, thugs 
would emerge from their voting precincts and overrun all prop¬ 
erty, and endanger all life. The most terrible menaces to life 
and liberty, as well as to property itself, are lurking in the 
shadows biding their time to come forth and kill. It was shown 
not long ago that if the police were withdrawn, not a house, nor 
a church, nor a factory, nor a place of business, would have any 
insurable value in a city. More than ten percent of the popula¬ 
tion are natural and professional criminals, earning nothing, 
and obtaining their living by crime alone. More than twenty 
percent of the population are armed lawbreakers. Against 
these unfit and dangerous hordes, we have the police and the 
law, aided to some extent by the sentiment of the better classes. 
When the police are tools of politicians as is the case in all cities, 
they are compelled to protect these criminals; they arrest them 
only when driven to do so; they avoid seeing what they are 
doing; they mingle with them when off duty; many come from 
the ranks of lawbreakers, and it is not uncommon to find police¬ 
men, when not engaged in their public services, taking part in 
robberies and burglaries. 

When a profession like that of politics will not only corrupt 
the judges, but will permit the whole system of police protection 
to come under their control, caring nothing for the real protec¬ 
tion of the people, but only for their own selfish hides, it is not 
the kind of a profession that ennobles the devotees of its teach¬ 
ings, no matter how exalted might be its claims. 

7. There is in every city sections that are set apart for the 
uses of prostitution; and when these are invaded to satiate an 
aroused public demand, the prostitutes are scattered for a while, 
only to return to their haunts. Hanging on their skirts were 
many thousands of men, all having votes; now with women 
given the right of suffrage, these votes are more than tripled. 
Hungry politicians know the value of this support for their 
party. It is bad enough when the votes of decent people are 
neutralized by crime and vice; but it is far worse when vice 
reaches out its gaunt fingers to lead on to ruin millions of young 
girls in every decade. These houses have their runners who are 
paid high wages for their work. One of the most profitable 
phases of this business is finding young, untried girls for the 


191 


Party Evils 

men who are ultra rich. It is said that the sons of wealth offer 
a standing price for first association with girls; that wealthy 
rounders offer sometimes as high as five hundred dollars for such 
first opportunities. These facts are known to all the lower 
strata of politicians, have been proved to the men higher up in 
their party, and have been accepted as a necessary plan of se¬ 
curing votes in order to keep their sacred party in power. In 
other words, a political party is locked hand and foot with every 
form of vice, every kind of crime, and every despicable law¬ 
breaker. No price is too high or too low to be paid in order to 
keep the party alive. 

Do you desire to enter such a profession? 

The runners referred to as feeders for fashionable houses of 
prostitution, are ingenious and skilful in their methods of kid¬ 
napping young girls, and women in their twenties who have led 
virtuous lives. Every year, by the official reports, several 
thousand young and attractive girls and women disappear mys¬ 
teriously in New York City, and are never heard of again; while 
thousands who are never reported melt away likewise. Few 
ever get back to their homes, because it is impossible to do so. 
From the statements made by this few, and from the knowledge 
secured when some of the kidnapping schemes are nipped in the 
bud, we find that girls and young women may very easily be 
stolen. 

In one case a girl accompanied by her escort, as she was pass¬ 
ing a dark doorway in New York City, was struck a blow on 
the head which rendered her unconscious; while her escort, a 
strong man, was likewise treated. The girl was at once placed 
in an automobile, the engine of which had been left running; 
and she was started on her journey to some house from which 
she would never have emerged until too old for their business of 
prostitution. It so happened that the driver of the automobile, 
himself a thug, had been a lover of the same girl, and did not 
care to have her sent into the life that he knew awaited her. 
So while the kidnapper sat with her in the back part of the car, 
and took care that she did not recover consciousness, the driver 
instead of going to the house that was awaiting a new victim, 
stopped the car in front of a police station, hopped off his seat, 
and disappeared around the corner. The kidnapper, seeing 
that he had been tricked, jumped from the car and the girl was 


192 


Brain Tests 


taken into the station. Later on the driver called at the station 
and told his story; after securing a promise that the case should 
not be reported. Agents of a society got the facts, and after¬ 
wards employed the driver as a decoy to save girls; but he lived 
less than a year, as the other political thugs got him, as they 
say in that city. 

It is possible to kidnap almost any girl and young woman. 

The old methods of appealing to the sympathy of some girl 
who is passing, is still successful, and will be used for years to 
come. It consists in some frail woman fainting at a doorway 
just as an unescorted girl is passing. The latter cannot see one 
of her sex suffer from lack of care, and takes charge of her. 
She learns that the woman had almost reached her home, but 
from hunger had fallen at the very steps of her house. She is 
able to walk up the stairs with some little help, and sobs bitterly 
at her misfortune. The sympathetic girl does not go far into 
the house; often not to the top of the stairs; some are suspicious 
and will only enter the hall below; but that suffices. A hiding 
thug strikes her a blow on the back of the head, and oblivion fol¬ 
lows until she wakes up in a fashionable house, where she is kept 
in an inner room as a prisoner. Her will, or her health must be 
broken before she is a willing attache of the house; but the fate 
is sure to fall to her lot. She has no knowledge as to what part 
of the world she is in, and cannot get access to either street or 
yard window. Once in a while she is keen enough to accept the 
inevitable as a means of gaining the confidence of her captors; 
which she does by carousing, by adopting the flippancy and 
wantonness of the house; and in time finds a way to get to the 
street. 

When asking the aid of a policeman after she gets to the street, 
she is laughed at; and later on learns that he is merely the tool 
of the ward heeler in that part of the city; the ward heeler is 
the tool of the politicians higher up; and these higher up men 
are supporters of the great statesman who advises all young 
men and young women to study and adopt politics as a pro¬ 
fession. Of all the hypocrites who can stand before an audience 
with hands facing each other and finger-tips down, none on 
this globe equals in hypocrisy and villainy the great statesman of 
high brow, of dignified mien, of sanctimonious smoothness, of 
lofty ideals, of sorrowing sympathy for the faults of the other 


193 


Party Evils 

political party, of magnificent eloquence, of commanding vo¬ 
cabulary, of convincing manner, of irresistible persuasiveness, 
of even religious protestation, the so-called noble Senator, of 
high standing in the United States Senate, or the general leader 
of political thought wherever he may be found; for he is foul to 
the core, is steeped in the blood and anguish of countless 
thousands of lost souls whose hope of life he has damned by his 
falsehoods and intrigues to keep himself and his party in office, 
and is a mere shell of veneer on all questions of honor and 
rectitude. 

He is the man whose smooth tongue and convincing arguments 
advise you to make politics a profession. 

A woman was walking along Fifth Avenue in New York in the 
middle of a bright forenoon, when a blow drove her into a door¬ 
way, where she fell unconscious, and while in this state she was 
put in an automobile and taken to a house in the tenderloin dis¬ 
trict. For two weeks she fought her captors, and then agreed 
to meet a man who was a patron of the house. He proved to be 
her brother. Both he and she admitted that there was no means 
of escape except by some such miracle. In fact he was com¬ 
pelled to leave her in the house, and to pretend to have found 
her in an amiable mood; while he told the story to the local 
police. They refused to believe him, or at least to help him; and 
he had recourse to a society, which quickly moved in the matter; 
surrounded the house; arrested the managers and inmates, and 
rescued the girl. Then he became convinced that the police 
were controlled by the politicians, and protected not only vice 
but the white slavery that made a business of kidnapping girls 
and young women for the gilded youth of the city, and the 
wealthy roues who feasted on virtue. 

Is that the kind of a profession that you wish to enter? 

Today the country is suffering from an epidemic of lawbreak¬ 
ing. While there are officials provided to enforce the law, the 
knowledge that they are opposed by politicians gives courage of 
the brazen sort to the lawbreakers, and crimes of all kinds are 
rapidly increasing. Not one but hundreds of law-enforcing 
officials make this statement in effect: “We are helpless as long 
as the country is honey-combed by political influences all work¬ 
ing as aids to crime and lawbreaking. Things will soon come to 
a climax, for there are to our knowledge secret organizations 


194 


Brain Tests 


that are planning to take matters in their own hands and en¬ 
force the laws. If they would first exterminate the worst 
vermin in existence, the politicians, they would render the rest 
of the work easy.” 

The question might be asked, what is the great lure for men 
into the field of politics? Formerly they were enabled to filch 
from the public funds a vast amount of money for their own 
pockets; as almost every special appropriation gave them the 
opportunity of sharing in the spoils. This means of income is 
not as abundant as it was a few years and more ago. Bribery 
is fully as active now as then, and it has a multitude of forms. 
While the law seeks to limit the amount that is spent in a cam¬ 
paign, large sums that are not reported are nevertheless given 
into the hands of the workers, and much of it remains at the 
various headquarters for division. In one State recently it was 
proved that money flowed like water, although it was not re¬ 
ported as the law required. One man is known to have spent 
four million dollars in one campaign. 

In another State a man who wanted to be elected to a high 
office was encouraged by the political gang, and was told that if 
he gave to charity a sum not far from eight hundred thousand 
dollars, he would succeed. This amount he gave to charity. 
Half of it was divided among ten men, and the balance among 
less than a hundred more. He was defeated, as the voters did 
not receive any of the contribution. Several million thugs and 
criminals furnish votes with little or no actual money reward; 
being let alone or protected is the most they demand; yet there 
are some who are quite well paid, who round up these voters. 
Every slum has its leader, its statesman who advocates politics 
as a profession worthy of being adopted. The old time method 
of going out with barrels of money and buying votes, is less in 
evidence of late; but has its uses in certain places. The prac¬ 
tice of importing thugs from one city to register and then vote 
in several other cities that can be reached in the same day, is 
still in vogue. Is that the kind of a profession that you wish 
to enter? 

When the “pork barrel” is filled and emptied by our Con¬ 
gressmen and Senators, which means the distribution annually 
or at stated intervals of the public funds in millions of dollars 
for supposed improvements, but really to buy the votes of the 


195 


Party Evils 

constituents of the various districts and States, it includes two 
forms of theft. One bribes voters by spending money among 
them for the grossly selfish purpose of securing re-election for 
Congressmen and Senators; the other brings back into the 
private purse of these politicians by direct or indirect avenues 
a large share of the money so appropriated. Every State has 
its gang that preys on the public funds through political leader¬ 
ship. Wealthy companies or corporations hang onto the skirts 
of politicians in order to receive contracts that yield great profits 
to them. This system has been in use in Pennsylvania and 
notably for the benefit of rich Philadelphia concerns who are in 
politics for the dividends that are brought into their business. 
This is theft, and has none of the qualities of smart financiering. 
The people now are paying taxes in excess for this vulture sys¬ 
tem that they could not shake off. The plan was simple and 
sure. These contractors ruled the gangs that controlled votes; 
and these gangs got their votes from the vast hordes of criminals 
who were protected. Watch and study the show of severity of 
magistrates in and around that part of the world when criminals 
are arrayed before them, from the minor judges up to the 
highest of the elected justices, and note how many of the worst 
lawbreakers are either set free, or given mild sentences, paroled, 
or otherwise aided as far as it can be done without too much 
evidence of partnership existing between them and the courts. 
The rarely severe sentence is a pretence only. Try to close up 
the disorderly houses and the tough places, and there is at once 
the indifference of the police, followed by the chicanery of the 
courts, and sooner or later the howl of the newspapers whose 
large circulation depends on the patronage of the slums. 

This is the profession of politics. Will you join it to make it 
what it should be, or will you treat it like a foul cancer, and cut 
it out root and branch? 

Bribery especially in Washington is not a dead corpse. 
Once the bribers known as lobbyists paid out millions of dollars 
a year to Congressmen and Senators; now the claim is made 
that the only vigorous form of bribery is that which offers sup¬ 
port at the polls for support of great expenditures of public 
money for certain organizations or uses; and the lure of re- 
election in this way costs the public billions of dollars. But 
there is bribery in the actual gift of money in large sums paid 


196 


Brain Tests 


to public officials. Many Congressmen and Senators are law¬ 
yers, or advisors, and as such may legally if not morally receive 
retainers of fifty to one hundred thousand dollars. 

That they are not allowed to practice openly in some cases, or 
that their votes are not influenced by these bribes, makes no 
difference; they are not in office for their health. If you wish 
some interesting reading, employ a group of accountants to 
cover the following ground: Ascertain the financial condition 
of certain Congressmen and Senators before they entered 
politics especially at Washington; then ascertain their financial 
condition and income today. From the latter sum subtract the 
former sum, and the difference will show the profits that come 
from serving the dear people. Do this. It will not be a very 
expensive proceeding. It will open your eyes. With the cost of 
elections and of re-elections always greater than the salaries paid 
to these officials, and with the cost of living advanced in public 
life over that of private life, the growth of wealth and of in¬ 
come where it is found must have a natural source. Finally 
take note of the amount of open law practice done by these men 
during the years covered, and you will learn that there are 
secret sources of profit in the profession of politics. 

Do you wish to enter a calling where you must lay aside every 
vestige of honesty, of honor, of decency, of self-respect, of that 
moral quality of which you are now proud, in order to embark 
in a profession that does not give back one true reward for the 
sacrifices you must make when you step from the field of possible 
success through fair means into that of theft and cowardice as 
well as of criminal associations of the lowest and most degrading 
character that this earth affords ? 

Political parties orginated in conspiracies. 

Every one of them can be traced back to treasonable 
conspiracies. 

They were created by discontents and cutthroats who desired 
to come into power and public funds by overthrowing the gov¬ 
ernment that was in power and in public funds. These are the 
motives today: power and public funds. 

Our wise forefathers, following the English method of recent 
centuries, and thinking to avoid bloody revolutions, provided for 
the overthrow of the government at regular intervals, but in a 
peaceful and orderly manner, which has never been peaceful 


197 


Party Evils 

and orderly, and which has often invited bloodshed, especially in 
heated campaigns. It has also invited hatred, malignity in its 
worst forms, libel and slander, and every sort of trickery known 
to the animal cunning of the brain of the real politician. 

Political parties taking shape in simple revolutions, have come 
and gone for thousands of years; and stood forth in Roman 
history as climacteric in their results; but the real examples of 
partisanship, and those on which the English Parliament 
founded their elections and right of suffrage, were enacted in the 
Wars of the Roses. Two contiguous sections of England, one 
Lancaster and the other York, set up political parties for the 
purpose of ruling that kingdom. So evenly balanced were these 
political parties that they could not reach a verdict by a single 
conflict; and as conflicts then of a political nature were carried 
on by bullets instead of ballots, their evenness of power and 
political influence continued for thirty years; beginning with 
the battle of St. Albans on May 22, 1455; and ending with the 
battle of Bosworth Field on August 22, 1485. And then the 
decision was not reached by the conflict, but by the spirit of com¬ 
promise that followed the marriage of Henry YII of the House 
of Lancaster to a Yorkish princess, thereby uniting the two 
conflicting political parties. At Bosworth Field he defeated the 
notorious villain, Richard the Third; and by his marriage with 
the Yorkish princess, Elizabeth, he became the father of the 
still more notorious king, Henry VIII. 

The thirty years was was called the War of the Roses, because 
the politicians from Lancaster wore red roses, and the politicians 
from York wore white roses. It was a very pretty name. In 
this political campaign which lasted thirty years, many battles 
were fought, and many lives lost. Since that experience, the 
wise men of England have conceived the use of elections in place 
of battles whenever a large number of the people desired to 
conspire against the government. It was not until after the 
times of Charles the First, and of his son, that the actual con¬ 
spiracies lessened, and the effects of the voting began to show 
themselves. Now in England when a majority of the people 
wish to conspire against the government, all they need do is to 
tell this fact to the Prime Minister by a vote in the House of 
Commons, and he at once resigns. 

In Mexico or in any of the South American Republics when a 


198 


Brain Tests 


large number of the people wish a change of administration, they 
first conspire together, and then start a revolution. Our fore¬ 
fathers seeing ahead with prophetic vision, did not wish another 
thirty years’ Wars of the Roses, so they provided for changes of 
government every two years in some parts, every four years in 
others, and every six years in others; except that the Justices of 
the Supreme Court were to hold office for life, which was a 
wise provision and has never been regretted. 

So every two years we see the two bodies of employees of the 
government who were hired to carry on the business of the 
government in a business like manner, arrayed tooth and nail 
against each other, conspiring against each other, intriguing 
against each other, maligning each other, hunting for any and 
every trite and trivial excuse for attacking each other, inventing 
falsehoods against each other, and stooping to the lowest and 
most despicable methods of warfare, not for the good of the 
country which they are sworn to protect, but for their own 
good, for the greed of office, power and profit, for that empty and 
despised honor that attaches itself to the man who is elected to 
something. This is politics. In all the history of human weak¬ 
ness and asinine folly, there is nothing that equals this spectacle 
of man debauching himself and his birthright of honor at the 
shrine of a wooden god. 

Note the manner in which in the halls of Congress the members 
of one party seize upon any evidence of human imperfection, of 
which the other party may be guilty, and build on that trivial 
incident, enlarge it, magnify it, and keep on building on it until 
it looms as enormous as a nearby mountain, and then it is made a 
national issue. There is no line of business except politics where 
this evil practice would be tolerated for a minute. If the party 
in power makes any mistake, and all human beings make mis¬ 
takes, the opposing party gloats in demon like fashion, until 
their tongues hang out like fangs; their eyes dance with glee; 
their elation is cause for exuberant celebration in drink; they 
meet in groups and exchange congratulations; and they begin 
to make plans for the public denouncing of the party that may 
have made a most trivial mistake. Have they in their hearts 
the desire to benefit their country? No, they care as little for 
the benefit that comes to their country as they do for the con¬ 
stituents who voted for them in the belief that they were honest. 


199 


Party Evils 

Their one desire is to get something against the party in power. 
And if they cannot get it by decent means, they will invent it. 

In the Cleveland-Blaine campaign, which was the dirtiest 
ever happening in America since the Civil War, crimes and 
filthy charges were actually invented against the rival candi¬ 
dates; and admitted to be false when the election was over. A 
people that can stoop to such methods is not entitled to any 
standing among the civilized nations of the world. A profes¬ 
sion that is built on such practices is lower than that of prosti¬ 
tution; lower than the calling of the white slaver; lower than 
the dregs of human ignominy. There are some professions that 
are far down in the scale of degradation; and when the bottom 
of the deepest has been reached, open that bottom and there you 
will find perched on the roost of his own offal, the politician of 
today, the man who advises you to make his profession yours. 

Do you wish to be identified with such a calling ? 

You think you may enter it to reform it? 

That method will always fail. 

You stand as much chance of purifying the Cancer that has 
eaten its way into the deep flesh of its unfortunate victim as of 
cleaning and purifying this most foul Cancer of politics. Only 
the knife can save the nation from its infection and death-dealing 
venom. 

The remedy will be presented in the latter part of this book, 
as we do not intend to teach the breaking up of wrong unless we 
can show its reverse side, and provide a perfect relief. The 
men and women who preach destruction of old wrongs and old 
customs that have caused constant trouble, have never suggested 
a cure. As no adequate remedy has ever been given humanity 
for its many maladies of government, the diseases have been 
left to go on in their own way. 

The principle now at stake is this: 

Politics, the Cancer of the national life, must be cut out and 
kept out of the body of the Republic; and politics as a pro¬ 
fession must receive its death blow. Are you agreed to this 
principle? If so you will be permitted to credit yourself with 


TWO HUNDRED PERCENT IN THIS STUDY. 



200 


Brain Tests 


PARTISANS 

When an avocation is so low in all human standards that it 
besmirches everything and everybody it touches, and gives an 
unenviable reputation to all who associate with it, and blackens 
every line of activity depending on it, the first appeal is always 
to an alienist. This individual is a man who studies the brain 
and mind of a person, finds out whether it is sane or not, and 
knows what he is talking about. 

We do not wish to teach our views alone, and we rarely do this 
in any cases, but seek all the light we can find in the wisdom of 
others who have concentrated their attention on a system and 
its study, so that what we say may bear the approval of men who 
are the highest judges of the subject. To this end we will 
present here in reading form, and in popular language, the opin¬ 
ions of alienists. As you know a man of this profession is called 
an alienist because he makes himself an expert in the study of 
brain troubles and in a general way on all forms of insanity. 

Another publication that has been widely read and followed 
makes the statement that alienists declare most men and women 
insane to start with; while this is true, the dividing line is 
found by true alienists in the legal question of responsibility 
and non-responsibility for crime. But this is the dividing line 
for court purposes only. There is a wider range of fact that 
demands a dividing line which includes a large majority of 
people; and by this separation the alienists all agree that more 
than eighty percent of men and women are insane to the extent 
that, while they are held by the law, they are excusable to the 
alienists; they are insane in certain lines; and one of the most 
common forms of insanity is incurable partisanship; adhering 
to party for the purpose of defeating the opposing party; a most 
rabid purpose with no real reason for its existence, and no ap¬ 
parent reason except the desire to whip somebody. 

Thinking too much and too long on party matters has de¬ 
veloped an irresponsible form of insanity. 

When a useless and silly feeling of adhering to a division 
of the people against another division and setting up a house 
continually divided against itself, will drive brother into a life 
enmity against brother, and make friends of long standing hate 
each other, there is something more than the love of country be- 


201 


Party Evils 

hind it all; it is irresponsible insanity. But you say these men 
and women, for the wives are as rabid as their husbands, you 
say these men and women are smart and capable in all other 
departments of life; some have acquired wealth; some are lead¬ 
ers in many ways and hold the respect of their followers; why 
then should they be adjudged insane on one subject? 

There was once a famous law case being tried before a judge 
to determine the insanity or sanity of a very successful business 
man. The judge said that he would do the questioning in his 
own way, and not be led by the methods of the lawyers into a 
prejudice for or against the man; so he asked him all about 
business affairs and got sensible answers; he asked him about 
the many public questions of the day of a local nature, and 
found him normal; and so for several hours he talked and 
questioned the man, and finally turning to the counsel who had 
brought the case into court, said: “This man seems as sane as 
I am.” The lawyer wrote on a slip of paper the words, “Ask 
him about Moses,” and handed the slip to the judge. The 
latter seeming to ignore it for a while, went into some topic 
of a philosophical nature and gradually came around to the Old 
Testament characters, asking him, “What can you tell me of 
Moses?” The whole demeanor of the man changed at once, 
and he began to talk freely: “Ah, yes, now you are getting 
personal, Judge. Did you not know that I am Moses ? No one 
believes it, but I have many proofs of the fact. I led the chil¬ 
dren of Egypt often referred to as the children of Israel out 
of the wilderness, and, believe me, Judge, it was a thankless 
job. I have in my house a piece of the tablet on which the 
Commandments were written; they are burned in, and the letters 
are now worn smooth, but they are there. The garments that I 
wore crossing the Red Sea dry shod, are locked up in my trunk 
in the attic at home; and if you think I am not telling you the 
truth, I will show them to you and convince you.” 

The old man’s eyes had become glazed, and the pupils of 
them began to dilate. The judge afterwards said: “Here is a 
man who is sane on all subjects but his one hobby. I think he 
can manage his affairs safely and need not be put under legal 
control unless he becomes worse. He is not as bad as scores 
of bright business men who are sane on all subjects except 
politics, but who lose all sense and judgment and are really 


202 


Brain Tests 


insane the moment their political obsessions are opposed.’* 

Here was a Judge of a high court expressing an opinion as 
though he were taking judicial notice of a common fact. 

The business of the Government should be conducted in an 
orderly and business-like manner just like any organized busi¬ 
ness ; and for the sole purpose of doing it well and effectively all 
the time. 

This is the test. 

It will stand any analysis. 

Suppose a great corporation, or a great railroad company, or 
great industrial plant, were to be carried on with the leading 
representatives setting it up as a house divided against itself, 
what would you think of them? Let us say that the railroad is 
run as is the government, by two great divisions of the employees 
seeking to get each other into some big blunder that will result, 
as it has resulted many thousands of times, in trouble for the 
nation; suppose that the railroad employees are seeking by every 
possible intrigue and trickery to get the other crowd of em¬ 
ployees who should be regarded as fellow workers, into some 
big blunder so that they can say to the public, here is incapacity 
and unfitness for the positions they hold; let us now try it. 
And suppose the old management every once in a while should 
be ousted out of power and the new management should 
come in, and the ousted employees should seek to force the new 
party into blunders and mistakes, what kind of service will the 
railroad give the public? Just the kind that the Senate and 
Congress ever since they came into existence have given the 
American people. Nor does it make any difference if there are 
train wrecks caused by the party in power being eternally 
nagged by the party out of power; so that the former can be 
discredited, the public may suffer. 

This is a house divided against itself. 

It is childish and childishly silly. 

How it ever came about is not known, but it never had origin 
in the brains of sane people. 

Out of a national assemblage of alienists of the highest ability 
there came a few of them into a personal gathering for the 
main purpose of discussing the degree of sanity of partisans, 
or men and women who adhere to party whether party is right 
or worse than wrong; and these experts gave us authority to sum 


Party Evils 203 

up their views as follows. But as they had been our views, such 
authority was not necessary: 

1. A partisan is a man or woman who so adheres to a political 
party that nothing short of death can detach them; unless, as in 
the case of more financial reward being offered by some other 
party, a shift is made in the name of loyalty to country rather 
than to party. But there are confirmed cases of adherence that 
rise above all temptation, showing the deep-seated mental ob¬ 
session. 

2. When any of the lesser republics in Central and South 
America are running in good order, a revolution puts them out 
of the running until a new party gets control; this in time is 
running rather nicely when the ousted party or a new one seeks 
control, and another revolution follows; all the while the party 
out of power is aiming shafts of malice and poison at the party 
in power. Since the business of conducting a government should 
be established in the same spirit and on the same basis as any 
large enterprise, this eternal nagging of the party in power by 
the one out of power, is the smallest kind of intrigue, not having 
even the tinge of ordinary strategy or ability; it is not warfare, 
nor battle, nor fight in any manly sense, but cheap, of low mental 
caliber, and weak purpose. 

3. When we come to see the elected servants of the people 
divided into two camps, one out, the other in, and note th* 
manner in which they strive not for the performance of then 
sworn duty, but to get something on the other camp, we can find 
no other solution than that they are droves of insane law-makers. 

4. A politician in office as President of the United States, has 
never been of use to the people. Washington and Lincoln were 
never politicians; and there have been others who have sincerely 
tried to serve their country when in office. But the political 
President will do as has been done in the past, sell the country 
for his party; and we are burdened with laws and with taxes 
today that are the heritage of such a regime. The whole 
machinery of the government has been operated solely for the 
preservation of a party’s control over the nation, with no regard 
for the business for which they were chosen. Imagine if you 
will a great corporation being under the management of about 
half of its employees, while the minority of the employees con¬ 
tinually nagged and attacked those in the majority, and you have 


204 


Brain Tests 


the United States Senate and the House of Representatives; all 
whose members were elected to do the business of the nation; 
instead of which they are striving for advantage, and for some¬ 
thing like an error in the other party so that they may magnify 
it a thousand times and parade it before the country as a reason 
why their fellow employees cannot be trusted. 

5. Senators and Members are the business managers of the 
nation. The idea of these managers living in two divided camps, 
is of itself a clear indication of lack of mental balance. 

6. In their efforts to find something wrong with the other 
camp, they neglect the great work of looking after the interests 
of the people; with the excuse that they must keep their party in 
power. In order to keep their party in power they put through 
legislation that is in the form of bribery; they bribe lobbying 
organizations with satisfying laws which put the cost and heavy 
taxes on the people. More than one half of the taxes now being 
borne and the debts now T saddled on the people are due to this 
kind of bribery, selling out the country to keep their party in 
power; coupled, of course, with the vicious custom of re-elections. 

7. Not the interest of the nation, but the greed of self-interest, 
and the determination to retain power of one section of a divided 
camp, is the motive behind the office-holding law-maker. Hardly 
more than a dozen Senators and Congressmen care a whit for the 
nation, so long as they are in control of its finances. In the face 
of over-taxation, in the face of a burden of debt almost too heavy 
to carry, in the face of deficits and excessive borrowing by the 
government, bills are introduced and passed that call for the ex¬ 
penditure of extra billions of dollars, not one bill, but many; and 
this defiance is hurled in the teeth of the tax-payers with the 
inquiry, what are you going to do about it? Nothing half as 
insane was ever attempted by any business organization; nor 
would it be possible except under a system that allowed two po¬ 
litical parties to run amuck. No thought or care is given the 
people, or the work for which these scoundrels were elected; but 
solely the preservation of party and the re-election of the indif¬ 
ferent incumbent. 

8. A bill is voted on in the House. It is carried by a party 
vote; or defeated by a party vote. A bill has the same career 
in the Senate; it is supported or defeated by a party vote. The 
bill is either for the good of the nation, or else is hurtful to their 


205 


Party Evils 

interests. If it is for good, the fact that its supporters stood by 
it and passed it while the opposite party as a unit opposed it, 
shows that the latter were not honest or else were not mentally 
capable of considering it at all; for every alienist will tell you 
that it is an impossibility for a solid group of individuals to all 
be right and another solid group all wrong under such circum¬ 
stances. If they were incapable, then they were unfit; if they 
were capable then they were not honest; there is no escape. 
Now if the bill were bad, the men who as a party united to 
defeat it, might all be right; presumably were; but the men who 
favored it were either dishonest or incapable for the same 
reasons we have stated. In every partisan vote in any legislative 
body, one side or the other must be adjudged insane or dishonest. 
Apply every test you please, and the same conclusion is forced on 
you. You may say that it is possible for a number of people to 
be right on a given proposition, while another group may have 
honest convictions on the other side. This is the argument of 
human frailty. It convinces only a mind born of human frailty. 
When the same group is lined up against the same other group, 
and the vote is a party vote, it must be either a coincidence or 
a fixed purpose. No form of intelligence can be found willing 
to take up the cudgel for the theory of coincidence; it is too 
palpable. You and all thinking people know that every party 
vote is a plan of campaign to offset the plans of the other party; 
and that it is therefore given by men who are either dishonest 
or unfit. 

9. The unrelenting nagging of the party in power is perhaps 
the most disgraceful of all partisan manceuvers. Attack after 
attack is launched, charge after charge is made, lie after lie is ut¬ 
tered, mud is thrown, savage slanders are spoken, fists are shaken, 
rules are broken, bitter venom is spewed; and this is the United 
States Senate, composed of men of alleged dignity, sworn to 
conduct the business of the nation for the good of the people. 
There are gentlemen there; and there are some rather decent 
men when they are above politics. The House of Representatives 
is so jammed that it is merely a perfunctory part of the ma¬ 
chinery, and the only way the Senatorial tactics can be employed 
is to make an absent speech and ask leave to have it printed in the 
Record; with the privilege of inserting the words applause, 
laughter, great applause, uproarious laughter, volcanic applause, 


206 


Brain Tests 


side-splitting laughter and even interruptions. We have seen a 
never-delivered speech printed in one of the former Washington 
Weeklies, with all the above insertions, and even several ques¬ 
tions by the greatest statesmen of the House, all of which were 
pure inventions. It is a great system; this political business. 
But is it sane? 

10. If a party had a legitimate reason for being in existence it 
might even then be tolerated, although it would be a nuisance and 
a barrier to the proper management of the government’s busi¬ 
ness; but it has not one single excuse for being alive. It is 
wholly an encumbrance. Its professed object in living is to 
attack the other party; and the latter has the same professed 
object to atone for its being on earth. Did you ever know a 
party out of power pretending to have any other object in life 
than to attack the party in power? The purpose is a childish 
one, and the methods of attack are all childish. Constant attack, 
unremitting attack, personal and general attack, vituperation 
in attack, libel and slander in attack, hunting, smelling, nosing 
down every possible clue to an error for the purpose of enlarging 
it in an attack, besmirching reputations good and bad with 
attacks and charges, and boasting like the heroes of ancient 
times, metaphorically raising the dripping dagger over the 
bleeding body of the prostrate enemy, the other party. Is this 
sanity ? 

11. A President is elected like Senators and Members to carry 
on the nation’s business; but from the time he takes his office 
until he is worn out in the struggle, the party out of power 
places every obstacle in his path to make his work the more diffi¬ 
cult in the hope that he will blunder and so give them a party ad¬ 
vantage. Can you imagine any course more brutal? Yet that is 
the history of the Senate, and was once the history of the House 
until its machinery became jammed with too many of them. The 
Senator who lowers himself that much farther than his normal 
level, which must be low to begin with, is nothing short of a 
traitor. Think it over. He is a traitor to his country. The 
President belongs to the nation; when this cheap politician be¬ 
gins his attack on the Chief Magistrate, he is assaulting his own 
people, and his country. When he breathes his malign influence 
against the man whom he should aid and support, and for no 
other reason than to keep his party in power, he is unfit to re- 


207 


Party Evils 

main a citizen of any civilized land. He should be a thing with¬ 
out a country, without a flag, a bird that fouls its own nest. It 
makes no difference who the President may be; history shows 
that not more than one has ever proved untrue to the trust, 
and that all the Presidents have averaged far better in manliness 
and moral prowess than the best of the politicians. It is the 
meanness of the set purpose to nag and harass the Chief Magis¬ 
trate that is degrading. 

12. If Washington himself were about to take office after sav¬ 
ing the nation in its early struggle, if nothing was known against 
him, if he were as pure as an angel and were coming to his office 
with a clean purpose to help the American people as a whole with 
a broad-minded zeal and lofty intention, the party out of power 
with its Senators and its Members would begin at once, subtly, 
not in the open, for they as a rule are cowards, to lay plans to 
hurt him in the opinion of the people. They would assume that 
no man is perfect; that being a man and imperfect he must 
sooner or later make a slip; that the slip, trivial and of no im¬ 
portance could be magnified into a giant of wrong toward the 
country; and this magnifying they would do, and so would begin 
a campaign of malignant abuse and assault for no other purpose 
than that of ruining the reputation of the purest man of his times 
in order that the party might come into power. Is such a party 
worth having power? It is all right to carry around as a con¬ 
cealed weapon a magnifying lens of considerable enlarging abil¬ 
ity; but when it is carried by the party out of control for the 
sole purpose of magnifying the smallest fault of a great man into 
a mountain of blame for the interests of a party that is not fit to 
exist, it is the despicable work of traitors; and yet that kind of 
thing is being done every day of the week in this country. 

13. Conditions that should be pleasant and conducive to team 
work in the government management, are embittered by the 
aligning of one party against another; and the government al¬ 
ways suffers. Nine-tenths of the time of the Senate and House 
is taken up with playing for advantage between the two leading 
parties; with the result that much time is taken from the busi¬ 
ness of the nation; and near the end of the session everything is 
in a state of rush and chaos; ill-considered laws are enacted, bills 
that are not wise are passed, and turmoil ensues. It is left to 
the President on the final day to sign hundreds of laws under the 


208 


Brain Tests 


supposition that he will have time to read their contents in the 
few hours or minutes allotted him, when in fact he has hardly 
time to write his name to them. This is the reward the people 
get for spending millions of dollars on Congress, and submitting 
to the billions of dollars of taxation. Summed up it is the waste 
of most of the time of each year in childish bickering, and then 
trying to shove a mass of legislation into a few days that should 
have required several months. It all comes from the pernicious 
practice of having parties exist in this country or in any coun¬ 
try. No other nation is free from these defects that suffers the 
nuisance of having two or more parties striving for supremacy. 
Disturbance of business, bringing on hard times and panics, and 
double taxation are the results in all other lands where there 
are political parties. It is said that these nuisances began in the 
Wars of the Roses in England when the two armies of York and 
Lancaster were threatening each other for a century or more; 
and out of them came the Tories and the Whigs, but this is prob¬ 
ably not true. Yet political parties originated in the plotting 
for a revolution, or for the plotting for the overthrow of a gov¬ 
ernment ; always in treasonable purposes. We have shown such 
misconduct on the part of these offenders in this country that 
would warrant their deportation as traitors if we had enough 
backbone as a people to drive them out of business. 

All political parties are naturally revolutionists. 

14. What we say is a matter of record. That record speaks 
for itself. And added to the official record is the great sweep of 
daily news that brings up into the maw of general knowledge all 
the evils of party antagonism. It tells of months and months of 
delay of the public affairs to enable the politicians to battle for 
advantage. It tells of gross inability because of the indisposition 
of the Senate to curb its violent speakers and its obstruction¬ 
ists. One of the Senators himself in a magazine of national 
circulation furnished an article in which he described the hold¬ 
ing up of the nation's business by a single Senator who read 
every word of a great daily newspaper, beginning on the first 
page at the first column and repeating aloud its contents, page 
after page, even including the advertisements, requiring days 
and days of valuable time, for the mere purpose of securing a 
party advantage by obstruction; while the rest of the Senate 
were aghast, with mouths agape, helpless in this orgy of asinin- 


209 


Party Evils 

ity, silent accomplices in this debauchery of the public business 
for party uses. This record of shame will stand as long as the 
nation exists and has history; and it is only one of many 
similar actions of that august body, as it is self-declared; but in 
the minds of the people, a distrusted and discredited body. 

15. Some newspapers have sane editors as the word is generally 
employed. Some of the party-mad editors are really not sane. 
Some affect the character of madness to sell their papers. Many 
editors are tools of their party employers and must do their 
bidding. But there are others who do not care a whit what party 
is in power if they can keep the public interest red hot; and sav¬ 
age attacks of opposing partisans serve to do this. We know of 
one corporation that owns four daily papers in one city; each of 
the morning papers is a party paper; and, although the editors 
and writers are under one pay roll and work for the same em¬ 
ployer, they keep up a public warfare against each other, and do 
it so neatly that the people believe they are being served. The 
same corporation owns two evening daily papers and the same 
duplicity is practiced with success. When anyone thinks that 
there is collusion and connivance, the editors have only to show 
their bitter warfare on the others, and the doubters are satisfied. 
As the city is not large enough for a fifth paper, there is no one 
available to expose the gentle humor of the situation. But the 
owners really believe that partisans are insane and they are 
catering to them in that spirit. 

16. We also know of many weekly papers that have come into 
existence in our time, and in every instance, if there has been 
another paper in the field with expressed politics, the new publi¬ 
cation always has adopted the sponsoring of the other party. 
And this has been done when such new owners were of a different 
party. In a city in the West there was room for two dailies; 
only one was in the field; it was Republican; a new owner who 
was a Republican, started his paper as a Democratic, and began 
by launching his ship with a broadside that appalled the readers; 
but he got his following at once. It might be called fine business 
ability; or it might be called strategy; but the people who fell for 
it were not of sound minds. The new editor was saner than his 
clientele. 

17. On every hand we see the devastating effects of partisan¬ 
ship. In churches there are members who are affiliated with op- 


210 


Brain Tests 


posing parties and each group looks with disdain on the other, 
often leading to an open breach. Members of the same business 
firm have become enemies because of party differences. Even 
brothers have been pitted against brothers for the same reason. 
There have been countless thousands of cases where fathers have 
had daughters marry men of the opposite party, and have been 
estranged for life against their own flesh and blood; all in the 
name of the most insane idea that ever stalked abroad unmo¬ 
lested. A man who had friends everywhere and no known en¬ 
emies, or really none in fact, ran for office in an unguarded era of 
his life; he was in business; he succeeded in winning the election 
at the cost of half his friends and a large share of his business 
prosperity. He mourned bitterly the mistake that brought him 
into this evil doing; but a lifetime of good conduct after his brief 
term had expired could not win back his business or his friends. 
Like a convict he was marked for the rest of his days. It is a 
nice condition of things that will attach disgrace to the name 
that seeks office and wins. This case is a typical one. It has 
been known and referred to before as a common experience. 
When parties will so poison each other and their supporters that 
enmity is the natural fruit, it is time to call a halt in the custom. 

18. Many families are partisan to the degree of being rabid. 
You have only to mention the other party in order to apply a 
match to a powder magazine. Here we find actual insanity. It 
is like the case of the merchant who was sane on all subjects ex¬ 
cept that of Moses. These families would escape an effort to 
send them to asylums, as the merchant did, but on the subject of 
parties they are wholly irresponsible. 

19. Alienists tell us that if there were no semi-insane readers 
to eater to in their search for circulation, no sensational or scare- 
head newspaper could exist; and the same alienists tell us that if 
there were no semi-insane or fully insane voters in existence, no 
political party could hold itself together for a single year. More 
than this they point as an example to the highest legislative 
body in the world, the United States Senate, and refer to the 
records of their doings to prove the latter statement. Party 
attack against the other party is always an appeal to the great 
mass of voters who applaud such things as evidences of great¬ 
ness, so that these efforts prove the same fact in both directions. 

Only a short time ago two men who had been lifelong friends 


211 


Party Evils 

quarreled on a matter of party politics, and in the heat of the 
affair one shot and killed the other. The former declared, when 
he had cooled off, that he had no knowledge of the trouble. This 
claim if true established the fact that the reason may be de¬ 
throned by partisan feeling. Both men were always regarded 
as of sound mind and level heads in business and all matters 
except in politics. 

A few years ago, when party feeling ran high, five men were 
slain in a political discussion during a meeting of bank directors; 
all the men being connected with the bank, and all esteemed as 
excellent citizens. They disagreed only on party questions. 
A collection of similar incidents contains seven thousand mur¬ 
ders caused solely by political quarrels, covering a period of four 
Presidential elections; too many men to be sacrificed to this 
kind of insanity. Not long ago a whole church was disrupted 
by a quarrel that originated in a matter of political difference. 
A chance remark set on fire the brain of an elder who at once 
proceeded to state his views on the party of the other man who 
had been his friend and co-worker in many a good cause. Some 
of the other members, hearing the discussion, helped fan the 
flames by giving their opinions on the subject; until the con¬ 
flagration had got beyond the control of sensible minds. After a 
while the elder vented his political enmity for the opposing 
political party in such a manner that in the excitement he fell 
to the floor, suffering from an attack of apoplexy, and was soon 
dead. During his life he had been a quiet and peaceful citizen 
unless his political views were attacked; and then he seemed 
to lose his mental poise. 

An autopsy showed that his brain lining was highly distorted 
in one section, being the part that bore against what has been 
supposed to be the brain convolutions devoted to politics. This 
claim is founded on the teachings of phrenologists who under¬ 
take to demonstrate the fact that there is such a section, 
which they elevate to the dignity as the sign of statesmanship. 
But it is not a proved fact. However in the case of the elder 
there was a badly abnormal portion of the meninges that was 
located near the section mentioned. 

A woman of wealth who had always given support to a certain 
political party was so rabid in her views that no friend of hers 
dared to broach any subject that bordered on partisanship. She 


212 


Brain Tests 


was rather an eloquent defender of the policies of her party. 
If the President of the United States was referred to, she at 
once flew into a passion; many a card game was broken up 
by this mental defect; many an otherwise pleasant dinner and 
reception was turned into a regrettable affair; and when she 
died, as the result of an automobile accident, the autopsy showed 
an abnormal membrane, badly distorted by disease or abuse of 
some kind. The location of this distortion was not far from 
that shown in the case of the elder. But location is unimportant. 
The value of such an autopsy is the proof that the brain of a 
partisan is itself diseased; and this bears out the theory that 
there is no cure for partisanship. 

A President of a bank was compelled to resign because he 
expressed too freely his views on politics; he turned harmonious 
meetings of the directors into discord and quarrels, so that the 
bank suffered, and depositors withdrew their funds. In this 
way the crash at last came when a run on the bank put it out 
of business. This seemed to break the heart of the President; 
and an autopsy showed that his meninges were diseased in the 
same manner we have described in the other cases. 

A large number of men and women were building a church; 
much of the money had been subscribed; all the plans had been 
agreed upon; and during one of the meetings of the congrega¬ 
tion someone brought up the subject of the approaching election. 
This led to an exchange of views, and eventually to a severe 
quarrel, in which fist encounters were prominent. The result 
was that the church was never built. 

A bank ruined, and a church edifice denied, because of po¬ 
litical partisanship. Is this the kind of a profession you wish 
to enter? 

A group of alienists divided partisans into eight classes: 

1. Those men and women whose opinions cannot be changed 
by any fact or experience; they, when autopsies show the causes, 
are without exception all suffering from diseased meninges of 
the brain. 

2. Those men and women who fly into an uncontrollable rage 
when their views are antagonized, whether by truth or false¬ 
hood; they, without exception, when autopsies show the cause, 
are found to have been suffering from similar disease of the 
meninges of the brain. 


213 


Party Evils 

3. Those men and women who adhere to party as long as they 
possibly can do so, no matter what facts or experiences show 
them to be in error; they are mentally diseased, but in less 
serious form. 

4. Those men and women who follow a party as long as their 
good judgment permits; they are often misled, and often favor 
wrong methods for the sake of remaining in the party. 

5. Those men and women who vote for their party’s candi¬ 
dates because their fathers voted for the same party’s candi¬ 
dates; this is called inherited partisanship, and is always lu¬ 
dicrous to everybody except the lambs who so vote. 

6. Those men and women who shift from one party to an¬ 
other as the platform and principles seem to suit them; these 
are called non-partisans; and it is one of the best signs of a 
new civilization that this class of actually brilliant thinkers is 
ever increasing. 

7. Those men and women who, finding everything to condemn 
in all existing parties, seek affiliation with a new party. This 
is one of the good signs also. It is said to be a fact that more 
than seventy percent of all the voters at times have shifted 
their allegiance from one party to another, and have become 
either non-partisans or new-party followers. 

8. Those men and women who, finding all parties corrupt, 
decline to register or to vote. While they may be justified in 
this course, it does not accomplish anything of genuine value 
to the country. We have the names of a number of business 
men who, having been active followers of one party, finding it 
corrupt, joined the other leading party, and finding it also 
corrupt, have remained away from the polls for many years. 

The non-partisan leagues that are being formed throughout 
the country are coming into existence as a protest against the 
conditions that prevail in all the regular parties; but a non¬ 
partisan party is a party; and there is a better remedy for all 
these evils. We shall at the proper time in this book furnish 
what is a certain and permanent cure for these wrongs. As 
the remedy reaches all the conditions that are a part of politics, 
it is better to present it at the end of this series of lessons, in 
the form of one great system. Fighting the corruption that is 
the necessary spirit of all political parties, by other similar or¬ 
ganizations, no matter under what name, is not an effective way 


214 


Brain Tests 


in which to end the evil; it substitutes one bad method for an¬ 
other. In the warfare for a better civilization, the first step 
to be taken is to apply what we have called in our earlier les¬ 
sons, SOUND JUDGMENT; and this quality is lacking in any 
system that does not recognize the fact that all elected office 
holders and public servants, lawmakers and others, are em¬ 
ployees of the American people, who are their employers. 

Starting with this recognized fact as a basis of precedure, we 
then take as an example the business of a vast and complicated 
corporation, and their method of employment; and we find that 
the first outstanding difference between their practice which is 
right of necessity, and the practice prevailing in the national 
government is that in the corporation there are no parties into 
which the employees are divided; there is no house divided 
against itself; there is no competitive array of the rank and file 
of one organized horde of employees or would-be employees 
against a similar horde; there is no splitting of the followers into 
two or more camps hostile and bitter in their denunciation of 
each other; but there is a regular moving up of the efficient 
employees and attaches as rewards for merit, for loyalty in the 
service, and for attention to the business of the company. 

Here we get another ray of light by the application of SOUND 
JUDGMENT. 

It does not look at this distance in time as if our wise fore¬ 
fathers who framed the Constitution had in mind the dividing 
of the house against itself by splitting the people into two 
hostile camps; because they provided that in a Presidential 
election the candidate who received the most votes should be 
declared President of the United States; and the candidate 
who received the next number of votes should be declared Vice- 
President of the United States. By this plan it was possible for 
the Presidential candidate of one party to be elected Vice- 
President, and the Presidential candidate of the other party 
to be elected President; which plan indicates that the forming of 
enemy parties was never contemplated. 

But the principle now visible is this: All party organiza¬ 
tions shall be abolished. It can be done; and eventually it will 
be done, for the American people will not forever sleep in slavery 
to be driven over rough-shod by the worst slave masters of all 
history, the politicians. 


215 


Party Evils 

Civilization will assert itself. Then parties will be abolished 
forever and men will take office by the system of promotion that 
we shall show in this study to be the only solution of the evils 
of present day politics. 

Then churches will not be denied their people by reason 
of feuds in the name of partisanship. 

Then church members will not; become bloodthirsty enemies in 
the name of politics. 

Then brother will not be arrayed against brother; friend 
against friend; and father against son; nor husband against 
wife; all in the name of politics. 

Then banks will not be ruined, and the depositors’ money en¬ 
dangered because of the quarrels of the bank directors and 
officials in the name of partisanship. 

Then blood will not be shed in frays and fights that owe 
their origin to disputes over politics. 

Then many brainless adherents of party will awake to the 
light of sense and sanity, if not too late to be saved from the 
asylum. 

Then many diseases of the mind will be ameliorated by re¬ 
moving these acute causes of aberration, and a better era of 
sanity will dawn on earth. 

Parties must receive their death blow. Already many par¬ 
tisans are wise enough to see the folly of partisanship. Al¬ 
ready the alignment of the regular parties has been broken; not 
once, but many times. Now we must pull together in one 
mighty effort to end all partisanship. 

If you have gone far enough in these lessons to apply the 
teachings of the first sections of this book, so that your brain 
has been growing clearer as each new lesson is presented, and 
if there is an actual increase of the power to apply SOUND 
JUDGMENT to the facts we have stated, then you are per¬ 
mitted to credit yourself with 

TWO HUNDRED PERCENT IN THIS LESSON. 


POLITICAL JUDGES 

It has been claimed that the patriots who framed the Consti¬ 
tution of the United States were inspired; but, whether inspired 
by the limitations of the times in which they lived, or by a far- 



216 


Brain Tests 


seeing future necessity for the country, is not stated. For the 
most part they did their work well; and gave us a remarkable 
system of government. 

It has also been stated that they sought to avert such con¬ 
tinuous blood-shed as came from a resort to battle as occurred in 
the thirty years’ Wars of the Roses when the two great political 
parties of England could not decide their contest for power in a 
single effort; and so elections, a practically new method in 
the history of the world, which had been tried in a very limited 
degree prior to our Revolution, were provided for in the Con¬ 
stitution. From the fact that the President and Vice-President 
were to be chosen, not by conflict of party but by the number of 
votes cast for such candidates, indicated that our forefathers had 
in mind uncontested elections, and never contemplated party 
strife. 

But whatever they thought they were doing in this regard, 
they did in fact see the danger of electing the judiciary by 
popular vote. They set up three distinct and separate branches 
of the Federal Government: 

1. The law-making body. 

2. The executive. 

3. The judiciary. 

It has been said that they are wnolly independent of each 

other; but this does not work out as a fact. Congress is the 
law-making body; and it was an unusually wise provision that it 
was to consist of two parts; the upper house was intended 
to steady the lower house; to prevent rabid and wildcat legisla¬ 
tion such as has often been enacted, and to give the hot-headed 
politicians time to cool off. In England, owing to the constant 
fear of a general revolution that shall bring the king’s rule to 
an end, the House of Lords has practically gone out of business 
by its own willingness to remain nominally alive: as it does not 
dare to oppose legislation of the House of Commons under 
certain circumstances. 

Our government in its three branches is interlocked to a large 
extent. The appointments of the President must be confirmed 
by the Senate, which is right; and all treaties made by him or 
his State Department must be so confirmed. Even his own 
Cabinet is subject to the approval of the Senate which is right. 
As Executive his chief function is to execute the laws of Con- 


217 


Party Evils 

gress; but they make the laws; and here again the departments 
interlock, for he may veto their legislation, and force them to 
pass it by a larger margin than a mere majority over his 
disapproval. 

But after each branch of the government is constructed and 
becomes a working portion of the general machinery, there is no 
interference from either of the other branches. It is true that 
the Judiciary are given the duty to interpret the laws passed 
by Congress, and to overrule any law that seems to be uncon¬ 
stitutional; thus placing another check on the ill-advised legis¬ 
lation of the lawmaking body. 

The wisest provision of the framers of our Constitution was 
the method by which the Judiciary comes into existence and 
remains a third branch of the Government. Every member of 
the Supreme Court, of the Circuit Court, and of the District 
Court, must be appointed by the President; and confirmed by 
the Senate. Here for the first time in our national history we 
see a perfectly safe, sane and satisfactory system. Such States 
as copied this method have had equal success in securing a non¬ 
political judiciary; while all the other States, depending on 
politics, have suffered and are suffering from the corruption 
that attends all such methods. It is largely in the latter States 
that we find the Courts the laughing stock of thoughtful men 
and their trial system a farce. While all politicians claim that 
there are two sides to this question of electing judges and mag¬ 
istrates, the facts are so plain and so forceful as not to admit 
of the arguments of sophists whose duty it is to throw dust in 
the eyes of the dear people. 

When the President nominates for the Supreme Court the 
man of his choice, he selects a man from out a group of the 
ablest men in the country. He has a large field to choose from. 
That he does not create a Court that shall be one-sided in its 
politics, or that shall represent only one section of the country, 
or that shall represent only one line of interests, has been proved 
by the continuous line of appointments, not one of which, with 
a single exception, has proved unfair or improper; and the 
Senate stands ready to re-shape his purpose if he tries to depart 
from the old custom of impartial fairness. Here are the two 
best sources of safety to the nation: 

1. A large field of the best men to select from. 


218 Brain Tests 

2. The approval of the Senate. Added to these two influ¬ 
ences, we may include: 

3. The desire and ambition of the President to give the coun¬ 
try men who shall reflect always his good judgment, his honor, 
and his desire to safeguard the varied interests of all the people. 
That this ambition has moved Presidents is proved all along 
the way. The cleanest moral characters in American history 
have been found in the appointment to this high office. 

The crafty politician is charged full to the muzzle with 
built-up arguments and apparent reasons for claiming that 
elected judges are as well qualified for the judiciary as those 
who have been appointed. Their arguments do convince people 
easily; and the fact that men who are accounted able to solve 
such questions are misled by false arguments when uttered by 
politicians sustains the claim that mental taint is coexistent with 
almost all phases of politics. Wise men suffer from this taint. 

An elected official or judge is always selected by a gang; and 
it is this gang rule that the country needs riddance of. Then 
the crafty fellows proceed to unfold the mighty protective 
value of the primaries; and for a moment this staggers all 
opposing argument. As soon as the swayed mind is able to do 
a little thinking for itself, it realizes that the primary is the 
neatest trick of modern times, invented by politicians in order 
to satisfy the people by making them believe they are really 
nominating the candidates; when in fact the names that are 
submitted to the primaries are chosen by the same gang that 
used to choose the nominees themselves. Let us look into this 
species of trickery. 

The people now elect the United States Senators instead of 
having them chosen by State Legislatures. For whom do they 
vote for such office? For the nominees of the primaries. So 
far, so good. Who made the nominations at the primaries? 
The dear people. Still so far, so good. Whom did the people 
nominate ? Why the,—come to think of it,—well, of course, the 
men whose names were put before the primaries. But who 
put those names before the primaries: or how did they get 
there; and how many got there? The gang. The same old 
gang. You who exercise the grand privilege of nominating 
a United States Senator, are given two names to choose from in 
the primaries; rarely more; once in a while three, and in a 


219 


Party Evils 

few instances more than three. The whole thing is narrowed 
down to such few names as the gang chooses to let you vote for 
and select your candidate from. You have absolutely no choice 
in the naming of the men for whom you are to vote. You are 
told in effect, hut you do not know it, that you must take your 
pick from the few names, generally two, that are served up 
to you. 

In a great contest in a great State, the voters of one party 
at the primaries, had only two names put before them; and 
both these names were cut and dried offerings of the worst 
gang in existence. In another State at the primaries, only two 
names for one office were voted on; no others appeared. The 
voters complained years ago that at the polls they were com¬ 
pelled to vote for only such candidates as the political ring 
chose to nominate; and since then they have been given per¬ 
mission to do their own nomination, which they proudly do at 
the primaries. They have not yet waked up to the fact that the 
names served up for their use there have been selected by the 
same gang or ring. To reform this method, there must he an 
earlier primary the duty of which shall be to select names to be 
voted on at the regular primary; and the latter shall nominate 
men to he elected or voted for on election day; but the earlier 
primary will in fact he cut and dried by the same gang or ring, 
and so on indefinitely. 

There can be no escape from this slavery until all parties 
and partisanship are wiped off the national map. 

We watched the history of a large number of elected judges, 
some for the highest courts, starting with their nomination at 
the primaries. At each primary of each party, only two names 
were presented for the nominating process; and the voters in 
each party were compelled to name one of the proposed can¬ 
didates, or none. The two names were provided or furnished by 
the regular gang, reeking with all the corruption clinging to it. 
Thus the judges were creatures of the slums. For the sake 
of a display of goodness, now and then a good man is nominated; 
now and then a really fine character is given the honor: but this 
is part of the game. 

The naming of a really great jurist by politicians is for the 
same purpose that the horse dealer displayed a very fine animal 
in front of others all of which were very undesirable. If you are 


220 


Brain Tests 


selling a basket of potatoes and put one or two extra good ones 
on top, the trick may deceive the unwary; and in America, as 
probably everywhere in other lands, the most unwary, unthink¬ 
ing, unqualified individual for ruling his own country is the 
average voter who, with mouth agape, and hands sore from ap¬ 
plause, believes everything told him on the stump by political 
orators. 

When his ears begin to open, his brain closes tight. 

So the crafty politicians put in nomination a really able man 
for the judicial position; one to which they often point with 
pride as they ask you to look at that, see the kind of man they 
give you; and like the group of horses or basket of potatoes, the 
rest of the nominations are of the lowest grade possible that can 
be at all acceptable. 

There are some things that the decent people of this nation do 
not know; we refer to the decent people, because we have nothing 
to say to the others; we talk about them as examples of danger 
to our institutions. 

One thing in particular is this that decent people do not know: 
The criminal classes constitute more than one third of our popu¬ 
lation; and more than one-half of our voters. They are more 
active at the polls than the decent voters; they get out on all 
occasions when they can influence the result; while the decent 
voters are either indifferent or lazy. 

Elected judges know this fact like a book. 

Under pressure in times of great crime waves, elected judges 
make spasmodic efforts to punish criminals as they deserve; but if 
you will look over the records of the courts you will find that most 
of their sentences are light, many offenders go free, many on 
parole, and trials are half-hearted. Elected prosecuting at¬ 
torneys know that one-half of the voters are of the criminal 
classes, and it is the exception rather than the rule that a de¬ 
fendant is found guilty. 

The number of crimes committed in States that have elected 
judges and elected prosecutors will tell an eloquent story when 
we compare them in proportion of population with States that 
have appointed judges and appointed prosecutors. In the latter 
the murders are less than one-third, and other crimes less than 
half of those where elections fill such offices. The certain and 
swift pursuit and conviction of criminals reduces crime very ma- 


221 


Party Evils 

terially; and elected judges are much less inclined to punish the 
men who vote for them than are those who are appointed for life. 

The elected judge in time seeks re-election. 

He is human. He has been known to hold secret consultations 
with the gangs that belong to the criminal classes. Some years 
ago he was part of the political machine that was composed of 
saloon keepers and keepers of houses of prostitution; and some of 
these judges have been caught in such company. Some have 
been compelled to resign soon after their re-election because of 
such discovery. These are not isolated cases. While many 
elected judges are honest, most of them are not. Some who seem 
so honest that they are looked up to as examples for the young to 
emulate, have characters exactly opposite to their reputations; 
they are smooth pretenders. Being the product of the wicked 
political system, and being human, the two influences are more 
than they can stagger under and resist temptation. In fact they 
prefer re-election rather than decency. 

Their affiliations can be read by an acute observer when they 
have before them for trial some of the gang that has elected them. 

On the other hand there has never been a single case of such 
misconduct charged against a judge who has been appointed and 
whose term of office runs for a lifetime. 

Nor do we believe that any such judge has been unfaithful to 
the interests of the people. Having had considerable experience 
in this line of study and investigation, we have had a number of 
opportunities for knowing the real character of certain judges; 
besides which we have had information from records, trials, re¬ 
ports, and various sources of knowledge, to which may be added 
the scandal that has been published in the reputable papers of the 
doings and resignations under pressure of judges; and in every 
case it has been that of an elected judge. Once in a while an ap¬ 
pointed minor judge may lose his mental bearing as when he is 
not in health, or is eccentric, but we have never heard of more 
than one such case. While studying politics we had acquaint¬ 
ance with many people and considerable influence, and knew of 
the chicanery and dishonesty of a judge of a District Court, a 
Judge Graves by name, who offered most anything within the 
judicial range in return for his re-election. This scamp was so 
evil in his methods that he set free every criminal who could be 
of use to him in his re-election; in his charges to juries he made 


222 


Brain Tests 


it almost impossible to obtain a conviction; and if this were 
secured, he set aside the verdict on some pretended technical 
defect. Other judges were just as evil, and they were numer¬ 
ous. 

Politically elected magistrates, that class of judges who gener¬ 
ally try criminals without juries, are almost always villains; once 
in a while one is honest, and is promoted; but the taint of politics 
clings to all of them, and justice is a sham. These magistrates 
are closest to the people, which means closest to the criminals who 
control elections; and it would be political suicide to make the 
traveling too hard for their clientele, so trials are generally 
ineffective; and the public can only say, such a felon has a po¬ 
litical pull with the courts. 

When the President of the United States appoints a judge 
of the Supreme Court, he selects one regardless of any political 
pressure; at least this has been the past history of that bench. 
When he fills a lesser judicial position, if he follows the rule, 
his appointees have never been unworthy; but when he is dictated 
to by partisans, then the judge is nearer to the evil that we wish 
to avoid; and the records show that no appointed judge has ever 
been the subject of distrust except one or two of those in the 
lesser positions who have been the selections of political dictation. 

It is true that the politicians, and all persons and concerns 
with axes to grind and desiring only to advance selfish motives, 
have many times longed to get at the Supreme Court and con¬ 
trol its body and its decisions. Had this been done, our nation, 
instead of being held together as a Union would now be divided 
up into not less than four sections, and we would be living in 
chaos and disruption with all their horrors. 

In the midst of the countless evils that party rule and poli¬ 
ticians have brought upon this nation, the only bulwark of safety 
has been the United States Supreme Court. 

The cleanest part of our government has been that in which the 
judiciary hold office for life under appointment of the President 
or of a Governor. In fact, with the exception of the admin¬ 
istrations of quite a large majority of our Presidents, all the 
rest of our governmental systems have been tainted with corrup¬ 
tion, and carried on solely in the interest of men in office who 
seek to keep their party in power, and to secure their own 
re-elections. 


223 


Party Evils 

When one comes to consider the degrading conditions that are 
forced on the people by the election of judges under the control of 
politicians, there should be a prayer of thanksgiving that the 
framers of our great Constitution knew enough, or had inspira¬ 
tion enough, to keep that division of the Government out of the 
hands of men who are totally without consciences when they see 
opportunities to feather their own nests. 

This subject has been studied by us for forty years by personal 
observation of the many courts of the land, and we have dis¬ 
cussed it with older men of greater opportunities of knowing the 
facts, and there is not the slightest doubt that the only safety to 
our institutions rests in a non-political judicial system. 

No man can become a justice of the United States Supreme 
Court unless he first meets with the approval or sanction of the 
President, who generally takes advice from other men before 
making the choice. Then the nomination must be confirmed by 
the Senate. Here are better safeguards thrown around the 
selection than can come from any political clique. 

What is the result? 

In the whole history of this country there has not been a single 
bad selection; no man has gone to the Supreme bench who has not 
been well qualified in legal experience and in a sound integrity. 
We do not believe that there has ever been a dishonest man in 
that body. We do not believe that, with one or two exceptions, 
the decisions have been flavored with politics; and if the excep¬ 
tions have not been along the lines of the law, they have de¬ 
parted for the purpose of doing justice. But in more than 
forty years of its recent history, the adjudications have been of 
the highest order from every standpoint. The men selected have 
been among the greatest in our history; not all of them perhaps, 
but many of them. 

We have had some weak Presidents, but never a weak member 
of the Supreme Court. 

Now if any person is capable of using his brain power in a 
logical way, he can see that when a man holding an office as high 
as that of President, calls to himself for advice some of the best 
mental talent in the country, and with their aid names a man, 
and so august a body (this time it is really august) as the Senate 
confirms the selection, it would be almost improbable that an 
error could occur. 


224 


Brain Tests 


There are States that used to follow the same plan of securing 
their judges; by nomination by the Governors; if this plan has 
been abandoned it is of late occurrence. We are quite familiar 
with the judicial system of Massachusetts of two generations ago, 
and it is probable that it still is in vogue. From the beginning 
of its history as a State its judges were selected by its Governors; 
never was there a bad choice; some of the greatest legal lights 
went to that bench, men famous throughout the land, and the 
decisions of that State in the book reports were received with 
more respect than those of any other State in the Union; and 
were even recognized as the leading law in England in some lines. 

The selections were for life and were therefore made with great 
care, and have been uniformly good, in many cases brilliant; 
always honest and efficient. 

Not so with politicians’ judges. 

Consider the difference in the conditions, if you will. 

When the President or the Governor presents the name of a 
candidate for a judicial position, he has a large number of 
names to choose from; when the dear people at their primaries 
try to nominate a man for a judicial position, they have only 
two names to select from as a rule, and rarely more than three; 
and every one of these names has been cooked up for them by 
some political gang soaked in the lowest grade of corruption. 

The President or Governor has the whole nation or the whole 
State watching him make his choice; the United States Senate 
have the power to accept or reject the nomination; and there 
is the living and virile ambition of the Executive to show his 
colors as a man and a ruler by presenting only the very best 
men for consideration. In fact it is a contest to find the best 
among the best; and there you have your United States Supreme 
Court; a group of the finest characters and the mental product 
of America. This result is always possible in every section of 
the land where the judiciary are appointed and confirmed; but 
never possible where nominated by the gang and elected by the 
people who have no other candidates except those that are the 
creatures of ring rule and corruption. 

In a conversation with a high judge who had come up from 
the State Courts where the judiciary are elected, and who be¬ 
came a member of the highest court in the land, we were told 
in effect the following facts: “No elected judge feels that 


225 


Party Evils 

degree of independence that is allowed one who holds his po¬ 
sition for life. I have talked with justices from States where 
they were appointed by Governors, and find a different kind 
of legal mind among that class from that which I find where 
they are elected. The knowledge that one holds a life position 
or during good behavior gives a better grade of legal thought 
to the justice. Honest men know the source of their selection 
when they are elected; they know of political organizations, 
and the nature of the support they depend upon to win their 
victories at the polls, and this knowledge sooner or later reaches 
the elected judge. Sooner or later he is called upon to show 
appreciation of the influences that made his election possible: 
and especially his nomination; for the real harm occurs in the 
first step. A few men, often only one in a State, known as the 
Boss, decides who shall be chosen. The Boss becomes bold if 
our decisions on the Bench and in criminal trials do not please 
him; and the fear of a certain brand of disgrace attending a 
failure to be re-elected to the same office, compels the honest 
judge to listen to the advice of a corrupt political judge and 
drives him either to refuse to accept another term, or to acquiesce 
in matters that an independent judge escapes. I have never 
talked with an elected judge who did not deplore the system. ’ * 

A number of watchers followed certain magistrates in cities, 
where the enforcement of the criminal laws fell to their courts, 
and these watchers secured evidence of the most damning char¬ 
acter against men whose private lives seemed pure and above 
reproach. These judges all made display in trials in the hope 
that they would be regarded as impartial; but whenever called 
upon by the gang to free or help a criminal who controlled a 
ward or to sentence a heeler who held in his power the votes 
of scores of lawbreakers, the magistrate found some defect in 
the warrant, and set the culprit free. In the jury courts, the 
elected judges are constantly setting free felons who are a men¬ 
ace to the public; and the excuse invariably seems of late to 
be that the indictment is faulty. More than six hundred crim¬ 
inals went free last year in one State from this cause. Yet 
when we read the indictments, the reason given by the political 
judge was hair-brained, and plainly technical, having behind it 
nothing but the payment of a debt to the slums that helped to 
elect him. 


226 


Brain Tests 


No judge is honest with the people who sets free a criminal 
because of any technicality. Felons should be tried and con¬ 
victed on the evidence, and should be given opportunity to 
know what are the charges against them, and if necessary the 
judge should order a faulty complaint or indictment or informa¬ 
tion to be amended to meet the facts. It costs time and money, 
even millions of dollars every year, to apprehend the criminals, 
and to find the facts on which to proceed to trial; and the time 
will come when an enraged public will sweep out of existence the 
technical judicial system by which on some fault in the papers 
of a case, notorious offenders, even murderers, are released to 
continue their nefarious work. Facts only are wanted; let ig¬ 
norant prosecutors strive in vain to write the facts into the 
dead language of court practice; but remember the mob that 
included the majority of the decent people of Cincinnati that 
razed to the ground a costly Court House as a warning to the 
political gangs that infested the city, stood in the way of every 
conviction when their voting constituents faced charges of mur¬ 
der, and spoke in a language that all could understand. 

This judicial crime is committed fifty times by an elected judge 
to one time by an appointed judge; but there are enough of the 
latter, no matter how honest, to bring discredit on the whole 
system of justice. The appointed judge commits the crime of 
freeing a criminal on a technicality because of his training in a 
law system that was archaic four centuries ago; and he has 
never had an incision in his brain to let in the clear light of 
truth. He is a passing menace, and will soon disappear. The 
elected judge frees the criminals for they are his bedfellows in 
most instances; they did him the service to elect him; and he 
wishes to stand for re-election. 

This lesson deals with the question of political judges. 
SOUND JUDGMENT says in unmistakable terms that the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States provides the only right system; 
that of appointment from among the best men of the land, and 
their confirmation by a scrutinizing and carefully discriminat¬ 
ing body; resulting in the choice of the best from the best. 

Is your brain clear enough to see that this is the truth? 

If so, then you are permitted to credit yourself with 

ONE HUNDRED PERCENT IN THIS STUDY. 




ELEVENTH SECTION 


THE COURTS 

ROM the beginning of time man has found some 
remedy for the encroachments of his fellow be¬ 
ings on what he considers his rights; excepting 
only those confiscations that were made by auto¬ 
cratic rulers and their followers. When there 
came a pretence to some form of civilization, as 
in the Roman times, about two thousand years ago, the legal code 
that bears the name of Civil Law was given to the people; and 
this was made into a final digest or collection of legal principles 
in the sixth century under the emperor Justinian. After the 
eleventh century it was made applicable to the wants of all na¬ 
tions of Europe; and from it came that branch of the law that 
is opposed to criminal law in the general use of the two terms. 

As each nation advanced in its various phases of progress, 
all law was adjusted to meet the ever changing conditions, until 
a few centuries ago when a stone wall in legal procedure was 
erected by the sophistry of the wise debaters of old saws and 
principles, which stone wall stands in this enlightened age as a 
barrier to common sense and justice. 

The people of England are content with anything that is 
hoary with age and decrepitude; and so they cling to the system 
that grew out of the darkest superstition of ancient customs, and 
they like it. A people whose courts are capable of conducting 
cases such as that of the litigants on which the supposed case of 
Jarndyce versus Jarndyce was founded, and which custom was 
given immortal publicity in i ‘Bleak House/’ are not yet en¬ 
titled to a better code or procedure. The law’s delays are just 
as stubborn now as when that exposure was made. This shows 
the character of a people as a whole. 

227 















































228 


Brain Tests 


The system has been standing still for centuries, with only 
such variations as are required by the forced decrees of ad¬ 
vancing business. There are some courts in the United States 
today that follow the old English practice almost literally. 
There are other courts that deem their only function to be to 
find some hair to split in making decisions. There are judges 
so musty that their only regret is that they cannot render a 
decision against both sides of every case. Other judges enjoy 
digging back seven hundred years and finding a legal instance 
to bolster up a 1 ‘new” axiom. 

This system has come down from a long distant and wholly 
obsolete past. It was in use many centuries ago; and never had 
reached even then a state of perfection. 

We have inherited the thing that was developed under the 
weakest of all human frailties: the semi-barbarism of the dark 
ages. We laugh at the old forms of trial when stunts were per¬ 
formed to ascertain if the accused were guilty or not; if he could 
run on red hot plowshares and not get burnt he was innocent; or 
if he were thrown in deep water and was drowned he was inno¬ 
cent, but if he escaped he was guilty and had to be slain to sat¬ 
isfy the law of those times. These procedures seem to us at this 
age to be ridiculous; but our methods that have been in vogue 
for hundreds of years, will seem to a civilized age centuries hence 
just as ridiculous. 

The judges, however honest and efficient they may be, are 
swayed by technicalities and do not know it. Every case that 
comes up in court of a trial nature calling for a decision has two 
sides; one side claims certain facts in its favor; the other side 
claims facts that are opposite. The jury is supposed to deter¬ 
mine which side is right in its contention as to the facts; they 
find for one or the other. Smith claims that Jones owes him one 
thousand dollars for goods bought; Jones says the goods were 
not up to their guaranty as to quality and he did not receive 
them, but that they are lying in some place of deposit for the 
plaintiff to remove. 

Smith now replies that the goods were up to the guaranty; 
and this issue is to be decided by the jury. Everything depends 
on the real quality of the goods; witnesses say that at this time 
they are in bad condition; Smith says they were all right when 
delivered, but that Jones was not doing a brisk business and so, 


The Courts 


229 


in order to avoid taking the goods, he tried to avoid receiving 
them on the ground that they were of poor quality. As Smith 
lived a long distance away and could not come on to inspect the 
goods he had tried to persuade Jones to receive them; until at 
length they may have spoiled in fact; hut they were in perfect 
condition when they left Smith’s warehouse. One of Smith’s 
witnesses under cross-examination becomes weak in his memory 
and is made to say that he did not inspect every ounce and pound 
of the goods on the very day of shipment, and will not swear they 
were perfect at that date. As this witness is the only one in a 
position to have personal knowledge of the condition of the goods, 
the court is asked to dismiss the case, which it does, and allows 
a verdict for the defendant. 

The plaintiff carries the case to a court of appeals which sets 
aside the verdict and orders a new trial. At the second trial the 
case is not taken from the jury on the repetition of the same 
evidence as given before; so the defendant puts in his evidence; 
and on the stand Jones admitted under cross-examination that he 
did not receive the goods in fact nor examine them, until some 
three weeks after they had arrived; when, going to the place 
where he had them stored, he found them in bad condition, but 
knew nothing of their exact condition on the day they arrived. 
On this admission the plaintiff asks the court to order a verdict 
for the plaintiff which was done. 

The defendant now carries the case to a higher court on appeal, 
and a new trial is ordered. At the third trial, following the or¬ 
der from the court above, all issues are given to the jury, which 
disagrees. No further trial takes place; as five years have 
elapsed; the defendant has paid for counsel and other expenses 
three thousand dollars to defend a one thousand dollar case; and 
the plaintiff has died after having paid out over three thousand 
dollars to secure his thousand. 

This case is typical of what is going on in America today. 

That it contains a number of wrongs is apparent even to the 
outsider. 

They are not wrongs that can be smoothed over and endured. 

They are wrongs that invite the most bitter comment on the 
methods of court trials and the law in general. 

No matter how pure a court may be, nor how honest and effi¬ 
cient its judges, when the whole nation feels that it is wrong, 


230 


Brain Tests 


feels that it is an incubus, feels that justice is hardly ever possi¬ 
ble, there is something the root of which should be pruned or 
wholly removed; something that makes respect impossible and 
hatred of the system universal. It cannot be a very nice thing 
for any court to contemplate the fact that its procedure is re¬ 
garded by every intelligent person as archaic and useless. Yet 
the justices of the highest court in the land know that this feeling 
prevails in this country, and some of them have several times 
addressed the national bar association on the subject and asked 
them to suggest changes for the better. 

The typical case we have presented shows the errors that make 
up this great wrong: 

1. The judge had no right morally, even if legally, to take the 
case from the jury at the first trial, and order a verdict for the 
defendant. 

2. The judge at the second trial had no right to order a verdict 
for the plaintiff. 

3. The jury should have had the case at the first trial, or else 
the judge should have decided it after hearing both sides instead 
of only one. 

4. The possibility of a jury disagreement should have been 
made so remote as to be improbable. 

5. Fees for attorneys should be fixed by law and paid into 
court for them; and should never be so large that the humblest 
person cannot get his rights. 

6. The jury system as at present conducted, is barbaric in the 
last degree, and brings injustice a hundred times to every case 
of justice. 

These views are not original with us; they have been expressed 
countless times by men of the highest ability; by great lawyers 
after years of wide experience; by business men of solid brain 
sense; and by all persons who have given the matter thought. 
The trouble is that the people are too dumb, too prone to submit 
to wrongs on the theory that seeing such mountains of evil bear¬ 
ing down on them there is no hope for relief; so they struggle on 
until they lose all interest in living, and droop into a useless old 
age if they live that long. 

The question that confronts humanity now is whether or not 
the great wrongs shall go on unchallenged, or something shall be 
attempted to remedy them. In the past the discussions have 


The Courts 


231 


been confined to uncovering the wrongs; but nothing has been 
suggested to right them. But we learn in this study that when 
a wrong has been discovered it is logical to face about in the op¬ 
posite direction and find the remedy by applying the principles 
dictated by SOUND JUDGMENT. 

The greatest evil of our legal system is the prolonged dragging 
of a case in court. In one trial recently over a will, three months 
were consumed, when any group of business men could have tried 
and settled it in two days; and many men of the soundest and 
most conservative judgment so stated, who had watched the trial 
in the courtroom. While these three months were being con¬ 
sumed in lawyers’ talk, fussing and objections, hundreds of other 
cases of as much importance to humbler clients were held up and 
some never tried because the people were worn out waiting. 

A witness who can tell all he knows in thirty minutes is kept 
on the stand all day, and the opposing lawyer grills him to make 
him fall into some trap or contradiction. Each lawyer is sup¬ 
posed to be an officer of the court and is sworn to see that justice 
is done; but he seeks rather that injustice be done; for his main 
effort is to make an honest witness appear to be a liar. 

This is a common experience. 

The proper method which is the true one to try a case is 
to have it fully prepared out of court; and all that a witness is 
to tell should be written down and handed to a Court Questioner, 
who ought to be an assistant judge. This method has been tried 
successfully. It reduces the time of a trial to one-tenth of that 
usually consumed. One great attorney, now a justice of the 
United States Court said that the lawyers for both sides should 
be as anxious for all the facts to come out and the full truth be 
told no matter which side it helped or hurt, as the jury were; 
that lawyers ought to be officers of the court, and as impartial as 
were the judges. But this reform is not possible. 

There should be no lawyers admitted to a court trial. 

A tested system is that of having all the evidence examined by 
lawyers out of court, and such witnesses selected as may seem 
necessary. Their testimony should be written down and handed 
to an official Court Questioner. In this way nothing would be 
lost that should go to the court. The Court Questioner should 
conduct all the examinations, with full privilege of cross-exami¬ 
nation, and his judgment as to the admissibility of evidence 


232 


Brain Tests 


should be final. As he would be an assistant judge, he would be 
trained in the laws of evidence. 

In some States the juries are made the judges of both the facts 
and the law which is a vicious system; they should adhere to the 
rulings of the trial judge. No layman can apply the law as 
long as it remains so intricate as now. 

In England the trial is prepared by solicitors, and the cases 
are tried by advocates; each branch of the practice is kept sepa¬ 
rate. We can improve on that method by removing the advo¬ 
cates, and in their places put one only, the Court Questioner. 

It may be said that there should be arguments by opposing 
sides, to clarify the evidence. But arguments as a rule only 
clarify one side by making the other side appear as muddy as 
possible. The best clarifying training in the world is that which 
a man of business gets by trying to transact business. With the 
right kind of juries, and the right kind of Court Questioner the 
evidence can be made just as clear as the best business mind 
would make it; and that is much clearer than any lawyer is in 
the habit of making it. Look into the courtroom anywhere when 
a case is on trial, and if you can see through a ladder, note the 
efforts of each lawyer to win by what a baseball player calls the 
squeeze play; squeezing in some hints and suggestions improp¬ 
erly, squeezing out the valuable evidence of the other side, and 
squeezing in all kinds of unfair things in the arguments, with 
objection after objection to the offerings of the opposing counsel. 
It is anything but right. 

The Court Questioner would combine in one person the Eng- 
list advocate for the plaintiff, and the advocate for the defend¬ 
ant ; two in one; he would seek only the ends of justice, whereas 
now we find paid lawyers seeking any ends that will help them 
win. Or each side may have a Court Questioner. 

By having this plan we would be able to try ten cases where 
now we try one; the congestion of the courts would cease; the cost 
of trials to clients would be reduced to a very small sum, as the 
evidence need not be prepared by a high priced lawyer, and the 
expense on the people who now pay millions where thousands of 
dollars would suffice would be so reduced as to meet one of the 
most potent objections to the law courts. 

While the Constitution provides for jury trials, it does not 
provide for lawyers. The interests of litigants can be fully pro- 


The Courts 


233 


tected by the Court Questioner; and men or women trained in 
the laws of evidence can prepare each side for the coming trial. 
Two or more Court Questioners could be provided if necessary 
but only one or two at the same trial. In criminal cases the 
prosecuting attorney could prepare his side of the cases and 
send them to the Court Questioner, who would also represent the 
other side. By this system we have lawyers looking after inter¬ 
ests of their clients as fully as now, with their unfair methods 
eliminated; and we have trials that will be ended in proper 
time under the fairest of all systems, justice to those who deserve 
it, and no race with death for the cases to come on. 

The fees of lawyers are out of all proportion to their merits; 
and should be regulated by law, and paid into the court. And as 
no lawyer should be allowed in court during a trial, the only 
work to be paid for will be that done in preparing the case. A 
man sues for one hundred dollars and after a bitter contest wins 
his case, but finds that he owes his attorney three hundred dol¬ 
lars. In such a case the law should allow not over ten dollars to 
the attorney for getting the case ready for the Court Questioner 
and nothing to the latter, as he is to be paid by the State. We 
have obtained from actual knowledge furnished by litigants the 
following range of fees charged and paid in cases in various 
parts of the United States: 

1. A widow was compelled to defend her home against a forged 
note said to have been given by her husband. The value of the 
home was two thousand dollars. It was all she had in the world. 
After winning her case the lawyer presented a bill for $1,990 and 
took her home in payment. Under a decent legal system his fees 
ought not to have exceeded twenty dollars. It may seem small, 
but it is just. 

2. A man was tricked by schemers to part with a sum of 
money in buying a pretended business. He paid them three 
thousand dollars. He found that he had bought out an empty 
concern that had no value whatever. He sued for the money, 
won his case, and was compelled to pay out of the three thou¬ 
sand dollars the sum of $2950 for his lawyer’s services. The 
three thousand dollars was the result of twenty years of saving 
as a producer, and the lawyer mulcted him out of practically all 
of it by a day’s work in court. Under a just law the fee should 
have been not over fifty dollars. 


234 


Brain Tests 


3. A man was sued for seven hundred dollars for goods 
that his wife had fraudulently bought after she had left him and 
which had been sold to her with full knowledge of the circum¬ 
stances by the plaintiff, and he won his case in court; but his 
lawyer made him pay a bill of one thousand dollars for the work. 
Fifteen dollars would have been an ample fee. 

4. A man worked for some weeks for another who was well 
able to pay him the amount due, which was eighty dollars. He 
called on eight or nine different lawyers to inquire what would 
be the cost of a trial, and could not secure a lawyer who would 
try the case for less than one hundred dollars. This would be a 
loss of twenty dollars if he won his case, as he would have been 
compelled to add the full amount of a verdict to that sum to meet 
his obligations to his attorney. He never sued, and never was 
paid for his labor. 

5. A wealthy man made a practice of employing help and not 
paying them. They would take the matter to some lawyer who 
would write to the debtor, and receive no reply. The cost of 
winning the amounts due would be more than those amounts, 
and only in one case was the man ever sued. He knew he would 
be safe from suits on account of the fees demanded by lawyers. 

6. A poor woman worked for a time for wages amounting to 
only five dollars; and when she asked for the money, was laughed 
at by the debtor. She went to three lawyers at different times 
asking them to get the money for her. They would not even try 
to collect it by letter. General B. F. Butler heard of it and was 
in a rage. He also heard of the other cases, and sent for these 
people. His fees from great corporations brought him an enor¬ 
mous wealth; but for many years he made it a practice to take 
all cases of humble clients without charge. The woman got her 
five dollars as soon as Butler had written to the debtor and he 
had time to hurry to the great man’s office in Pemberton Square, 
Boston. Butler often told the author that there should be free 
legal service for all litigants who otherwise would be put to 
loss for the work of lawyers, meaning a loss out of proportion to 
the amounts involved. 

This is done in some cities now; but not well done in any. 

Let all fees be reasonable, and avoid taking into account the 
wonderful mental acumen of these giants of the profession. 
There is no more reason why they should be paid more than five 


The Courts 


235 


to twenty dollars a day than that the bricklayer should receive 
more than that sum. 

Justice should never be high-priced. 

Above all establish everywhere where there are courts and 
lawyers now, free legal service for litigants, just as we have 
county officials who serve their constitutents. 

It is because of the methods of lawyers that nine cases out of 
every ten have miscarried, or have done serious injustice to 
clients. 

There are civilized countries that will not permit a lawyer to 
live among them. 

Some years ago we learned of a city in the far West where 
the people agreed that no lawyer should be permitted to come; 
and after this plan had been tried for twenty years, we happened 
to be there and made inquiry as to the results, and were told: 
“We were compelled to have a number of Notaries for the execu¬ 
tion of documents, but we never have needed a lawyer. There 
have been some disputes all of which we have settled by our 
Board of Citizens, as they are called. Our Notaries are trained 
in writing any kind of documents, wills, deeds, mortgages, agree¬ 
ments, leases, and all other papers; and between you and me the 
only document that was not skilfully and correctly drawn was 
made by a lawyer in another city for a business man living 
here. ,, 

The deciding of cases on legal technicalities has been so no¬ 
torious that there is a great revulsion of feeling for all courts 
and all judges. You have never read what are called law re¬ 
ports ; they are published in big books bound in law leather and 
are the decisions of the highest courts of appeals, almost always 
on questions of law. It is not our purpose here to go into these 
reports in order to show what is meant by legal technicalities; 
but it would pay you to borrow one or more of such books from 
any law library, or office of any prosperous lawyer, and read 
these decisions. They speak for themselves. You would not 
believe that the human mind could be so finely split in sophistry, 
and so capable of slicing hairs into such minute strands as are 
displayed in those decisions. 

Here is one example of the technical hair splitting that makes 
the courts of appeals seem necessary, and that has brought them 
into such disrepute among the sensible masses of the people: 


236 


Brain Tests 


A man signed the following contract: “I agree to buy of 
John Smith one thousand barrels of flour now in his warehouse; 
and hereby pay for the same the sum of eight thousand dollars.” 
The flour was not insured. A fire destroyed it. Smith had been 
paid in full for it. He claimed that the flour had been sold to 
the buyer; but the latter claimed that it had not been sold. The 
court ruled that the phrase “I agree to buy” was not a purchase 
but a promise to purchase. The case went up on appeal to the 
highest and most learned court in the State and it was decided 
that the phrase “I agree to buy” was only an agreement to buy, 
and not a sale. The buyer had said that the flour was his, and 
was making preparations to move it the day following the fire, 
and so told several men, but the trial court would not admit the 
evidence of intention, as it said that a writing must stand for 
what it says on its face; if intentions were allowed to overrule 
written contracts, no one would be safe, etc., etc., etc. 

In any business where men of ordinary sense are engaged in 
honest and decent methods of doing things, when a man intends 
to sell goods, does sell them by written agreement, and gets his 
pay, the buyer has bought the goods; he knows it; the seller 
knows it; and every sane man knows it; but it was reserved for 
the law to split hairs and decide that an agreement to buy was 
not a purchase. Here is the fundamental grievance against the 
law, against the lawyers, and against the courts. It is well 
founded. Next to the United States Senate there is no body of 
men in America whose opinions are so little respected as trial 
courts and courts of appeal. 

This decision just referred to could be reinforced by hundreds 
of thousands of similar cases. 

In one law book of hundreds of pages containing many deci¬ 
sions of the court of highest appeals in a great State, we found 
that every decision, with no exception whatever, was based on 
just the same brand of mental twaddle. Injustice in every 
case. Gross and lasting injustice because the judges thought 
that splitting hairs was evidence of acumen; not knowing that 
it was in fact on a par with the low animal cunning of a savage 
who was lying in ambush for his victim. The courts are always 
seeking victims. The case cited is exactly like all the others in 
principle. If there were no hair splitting there could be no 
appeal. 


The Courts 


237 


The result of the decision in the flour case was what the law 
calls logical. The man who supposed he had sold the flour, had 
not, and the eight thousand dollars he had received he was com¬ 
pelled to return to the buyer; so that he had neither flour nor 
money. Great is the law. Great are the intellects that ad¬ 
minister it. 

In the matter of notes, those little pieces of paper that require 
you to pay money on a given date, there have been reported in 
the law books more than thirty thousand hair splitting decisions. 
It would pay you to look up some of them; and for every one that 
is based on sound sense we will send you congratulations. 
Thirty thousand hair splitting discussions about a trite piece of 
paper. 

In a lease John Smith who is the lessee of a shack that is about 
to fall to pieces, signs the usual form, which includes the words: 
“Said lessee agrees on the expiration of the term of this lease to 
return said premises to the lessor in as good a condition as when 
he received them, reasonable wear and tear excepted/’ The 
shack was a rotten affair, and the lessee when he took up the 
matter of renting it told the lessor that it seemed hardly able to 
stand during the period for which he was taking it. But the 
lessor was optimistic and cheered him on with the assurance that 
it had stood for a half century and might be good for another 
decade; we spell the word decade, although it could be spelled the 
other way. One week after the lessee took possession the wind 
blew the shack into an adjoining lot, and the lessee was homeless. 

Now comes the law into the scenery. 

The term of the lease was ten years; the lessor, a sharp fellow, 
had written the document. As no clause excused the tenant from 
paying rent in case of the disappearance of the building, he was 
held to be liable for ten years’ rent. As he had agreed to restore 
the building in as good a condition as when he received it, he 
was forced by the law to re-build the shack. It took a trial and 
an appeal to settle these profound points; and this cost a large 
sum of money to the lessee, but very little to the other party 
whose son was an attorney. When the law was finally decided as 
stated, the decision was shown to a number of lawyers, and all 
said, “Sound law, sound law. The court could do nothing else.” 

This is one of hundreds of thousands of cases that cause the 
great masses of thinking people to hate the law, to hate lawyers 


238 


Brain Tests 


as pests, to hate the courts and all their proceedings. Never 
once in a thousand criticisms do you hear a respectful word 
spoken for courts, lawyers or trials. Is this right? If this 
feeling exists, it must have a basis; and we have shown the 
nature of this basis. 

The slimsy pretexts on which criminals are allowed to escape 
prove the desire of politically elected judges to keep in touch with 
the criminal classes to which they look for votes for re-election. 
It is rare that such pretexts are employed by appointed 
judges who serve for life. Start writing in a book the many 
times criminals are set free because of technical excuses, and you 
will be ashamed that you live in this era of so-called civilization. 
The proceedings before the grand jury were one-one-millionth 
of a hair in error; so the murderer goes free. The selection of 
the venire, of the panel, of the jurors, contained hidden a hun¬ 
dred feet below the intelligence of an ordinary brain, some flaw 
that the mental nose of the lawyer can ascertain, and the mental 
scent of the judge can detect; so the trial is faulty and the 
murderer goes free. It is the same weary story over and over 
again. 

Do you know that the judges that sit in trials are hooded, not 
perhaps by cloth hoods, but by the mental cloud of six centuries 
back ? They have not yet attached themselves to the fact that in 
this era there is a strong regard for the elementary principles of 
common sense. They do not realize that the weight of law books 
of ancient origin is pressing down on their skulls and contracting 
their mental vision into the narrow vista of semi-barbarism. 
The countless decisions that have done gross injustice to the peo¬ 
ple who were unfortunate enough to be in the clutches of the 
law, seem to these judges to be scintillations of brilliancy instead 
of the most stupid errors of the human intellect. 

As long as you have a mass of legal decisions that are based 
on the hair splitting technicalities of sophistry, so long will 
civilization turn her back on the race. We are making no real 
progress whatever. 

And such decisions fill the law books today. 

These wrongs originate with lawyers who are contending for 
their clients. We may not be able to make you see that a court 
of justice should not be a court of contentions. 

There should never be a contest, a battle, a fight, a struggle to 


The Courts 


239 


win, in a court of justice. Such methods bring the countless 
wrongs on the people. Justice demands the absence of conflict. 

Old sophistry speaking through what is facetiously called In¬ 
telligence, says that these conflicts or battles of minds in courts 
thresh out the facts and get to the pith of the disputes. Nothing 
could be farther from the fact. One lawyer seeks to put in evi¬ 
dence what he knows is not properly admissible; the other law¬ 
yer does the same. Both try to keep out the facts that hurt, 
because they fear the results; they are afraid the jury will get 
the truth. It is rare indeed that the real truth gets a hearing. 

Countless thousands of honest witnesses have been so mixed by 
the trickery of cross-examining lawyers that they have been 
branded on what seems to be their own admission as liars. Hon¬ 
est witnesses are the easiest to contradict themselves. Ten hon¬ 
est witnesses in a case would all differ in the details of their testi¬ 
mony; while ten perjurers who had been coached by a lawyer 
would all agree to the minutest details. Yet the unfair lawyer 
makes the honest witnesses appear as false, and the false ones as 
true. This is the everyday experience of the courtroom. A 
great judge once said to a jury: 4 ‘Look out for the witness that 

never trips, that never contradicts himself; he has been too well 
coached.’’ Yet you cannot induce a jury to believe a man who 
has in fact contradicted himself on the stand. The tricky law¬ 
yer brands him as false in all things, if he is careless in one. 

These contests are wrong. 

Today we see the attorney for the plaintiff enter the courtroom 
with the look of defiance on his face; and soon there enters the 
attorney for the defendant with another look of defiance on his 
face; both are cocks primed for fight; and in a court of justice, 
where the truth should be desired by all honest men; and those 
who desire falsehood have no place there. 

Every seasoned judge, whether he tells it aloud or not, will 
agree with a great jurist who said: “I have sat in trial of cases 
for forty years; and in that time I do not believe there has been 
one case where all the witnesses told the truth, or where any of 
the lawyers tried to get the whole truth and nothing but the 
truth before the jury; and now, as my career is closing I wish to 
say that our court system is all wrong not only in my opinion but 
in the opinion of many other judges. The remedy is to be found 
in keeping contests and contentions out of the courtroom; and in 


240 


Brain Tests 


public attorneys paid by tbe public as the officers of the court are 
paid. Theoretically every lawyer is an officer of the court and 
his oath when admitted to the bar emphasizes that fact; but in¬ 
stead of helping secure justice he seeks only the verdict for his 
client.” 

The Public Attorney could easily be provided by the State and 
be paid for at a proper salary which could not possibly equal 
the great cost now placed on the people by the expensive courts 
with their interminable delays. To try one criminal case re¬ 
cently the people were put to $26,000 costs; and the jury dis¬ 
agreed. In New York City not very many years ago a crim¬ 
inal case cost the people over half a million dollars in the three 
trials. While these tedious conflicts are going on in court the 
dockets are crowded with delayed cases, and the wheels of 
justice stand still in thousands of matters that should be settled 
speedily. 

Every person with a grievance should have the right to con¬ 
sult a trained attorney. If he decides there is cause of action and 
that justice demands it, he must certify the case to a lawyer to 
prepare; the attorney who has been consulted having nothing to 
do with it except to send it to another for preparation, and the 
lawyer who receives it is to prepare it whether he agrees with 
the client or not. Once the case is under way, the defendant 
may consult a lawyer who must prepare his side of it; and these 
two sides are to be sent to the Court Questioners; one appearing 
for each litigant, or one for both. 

Until Public Attorneys and Court Questioners are established, 
the fees of lawyers now practicing should be fixed by law, and 
always paid into court by clients, with a view to ending the extor¬ 
tion that now prevails. There is certainly no justice in a lawyer 
charging two thousand dollars to collect two thousand dollars, 
which has been done many times, or in similar proportions; nor 
in charging five hundred dollars to win a verdict in a case in¬ 
volving only seventy dollars as occurred recently. Lawyers’ 
fees today are a network of extortion. 

By the system of Court Questioners a three months’ trial will 
be reduced to three days; a week’s trial to three hours; a day’s 
trial to an hour; and the people will save in taxes several times 
the cost of the Court Questioners and Public Attorneys. 

Every docket in the land is crowded to suffocation with de- 


The Courts 


241 


layed cases except where there is a real system of business 
methods in vogue. Some of the courts have thousands of cases 
held up while one case takes weeks of valuable time, and imposes 
great expense on the people. 

In attempting to enforce one law where eighty men were ar¬ 
rested, there was a demand for a jury trial by each of the 
eighty defendants. The first trial lasted four days; the other 
seventy-nine would have carried the matter beyond a year; 
and in the meantime many other similar cases were started; until 
the whole criminal procedure fell to pieces by its own weight. 
If this is right, it is a farce; if it is wrong it is a gross imposi¬ 
tion on the people who pay in excessive taxes the cost of this as 
one only of the many instances of waste and injustice. 

When you put a yoke on the neck of a free man, he objects; 
when you load him down with abuse and burdens he drops to the 
ground and crawls with his heavy freight and tells himself that 
there is no escape. 

In time he is ready for revolution. 

If there were but a few wrongs saddled on the public they 
would soon shake them off. But by piling these wrongs moun¬ 
tain high, they become paralyzed and suffer in silence. Ask any 
thinking man what he has to say of the travesty on justice that is 
displayed in every case in the courts and he will say, ‘ 1 Oh, yes, it 
is all wrong, but what can one man do?” So he does nothing. 

Every citizen is affected in the following manner by the stupid 
systems of our courts: 

1. The unnecessary expenses exceed the necessary expenses by 
five hundred percent and are wasted public money, which must 
be paid in taxes. 

2. If he needs the aid of the court against some unprincipled 
villain, he must endure the law’s delays interminably, and so 
lose his rights. 

3. If he gets to trial and takes the stand, he must submit to 
insult after insult from counsel, be charged with perjury and 
fraud, and come out with damaged reputation and a hatred for 
the law and the court so deeply seated that he becomes an easy 
convert to the teachings of anarchy. It is the piling up of 
human wrongs that makes anarchy possible. 

4. If he wins his case he must fight his own lawyer to get what 
he has won, or some of it; and in any event be fleeced by ex- 


242 Brain Tests 

tortionate charges. Our courts of justice are so conducted that 
if a man wins, he loses. 

Everybody knows that these are wrongs. 

As the legal profession cannot exist in its present state without 
the present methods of procedure, it has been necessary for that 
profession to make the laws of the land; so we find lawyers every¬ 
where elected to the law-making bodies. This is a vicious circle 
of cause and effect. The people know this. When their wrongs 
are so many and so heavy, when they are broken on the wheel by 
these evils and are apparently helpless the whole structure of 
modern civilization will topple and fall. 

Every right thinking man and woman recognizes the neces¬ 
sity of a complete change in all our court methods; and the 
following remedies will sooner or later be adopted: 

1. Facts, law free from technicalities, and strict business 
methods must take the place of the present system. 

2. Justice without delay, sifting of evidence without conflict, 
fair and honest efforts to get results must take the place of the 
present musty, cloudy, foggy procedure that serves no one but 
the lawyers whose mouthings fill the courtrooms and occupy 
ninety-eight percent of the time at hand. 

3. There should be a primary school under the title of 4 4 De¬ 
partment of Sanity,” where judges are taught that justice to the 
people is as important as to the felons who break the law, where 
protection to the law-abiding classes is even of more importance 
than protection to the criminals who live by breaking the law, 
where facts that are sufficient to convict are the main essentials 
of a case as opposed to defects in the writing of the charges or 
other technical faults, and where all hair-splitting decisions that 
suited the dark ages eight hundred years ago are out of date 
in this era of supposed progress. 

If a man who is employed by a business concern is charged 
with stealing, and is brought before the directors of the concern 
for a hearing, the question of his guilt or innocence can be de¬ 
termined with a certainty in a few minutes, and in a manner 
that fully safeguards his rights; but if he is brought before a 
court of so-called justice, all the paraphernalia of the modern 
trial are set in motion; the complaining witness may be cross- 
examined for a whole day, and then subjected to abuse by the 
lawyer in many ways in order to discredit him, although he is 


The Courts 


243 


honest and is in court merely because he happened to have 
knowledge of the facts; and the case may assume such propor¬ 
tions as to bring a large bill of costs on the county. When it 
ends it will, if decided rightly, be at just the place where it 
would have been had it been determined by the directors of the 
company. Recently a slander case that could have been tried 
and settled in five minutes by business methods, took a whole 
week of the court’s time, and ended with a disagreement of the 
jury. 

Our position is plain. 

Change the whole system of Court Trials, by substituting for 
them a system whereby all persons who are entitled to justice 
may be assured of it, and without extortionate cost; promptly, 
effectively and completely served in a proper manner in all 
respects. If your mental powers are clear enough to see the 
truth of this claim, then credit yourself with 

ONE HUNDRED AND TEN PERCENT IN THIS STUDY. 


JURY TRIALS 

Hundreds of years ago there was need of the jury system. It 
came into existence amidst a chaos of accumulated wrongs from 
which the people arose as if on the brink of a revolution. Per¬ 
haps it saved a century or more of civil warfare. But it rose 
from the mud. 

The source of a thing clings to it. If a crowd of criminals 
should make a law, it would not be one that would hurt them. 
If one class of people were to make a law it would stand in some 
way for their benefit. If a semi-civilized age produced a new 
phase of life, it would be semi-civilized; for you cannot extract 
the germs of civilization from the soil of barbarism. 

When the jury system was evolved it came by degrees. It had 
its beginning in certain primitive and barbaric customs of the 
races of Northern Europe more than fifteen hundred years ago, 
at a time when there was no real civilization in the world. All 
was dark. This form of trial was adopted and changed many 
times by different peoples. 

Among the Anglo-Saxons a person accused of crime was al¬ 
lowed to summon twelve of his neighbors, called compurgators, 



244 


Brain Tests 


who swore to his innocence. This acquitted him if there were 
twelve who agreed, making the verdict unanimous. He was per¬ 
mitted to go about hunting for these jurors until he had found 
twelve who would agree to vote for him. Then he was sure of 
acquittal, no matter what the prosecution had to offer. 

After the Norman Conquest, the people came to believe that 
their rights of trial might be restricted, and so insisted that they 
should be given the safeguard of a trial by jury. But the nobles 
did not care to be tried by anyone except nobles; and as the 
selecting of the jury had been shifted from the defendant to 
the State, it was important that they should have their own 
juries, and the common people theirs; the word peers, meaning 
equals, being used to define the grade of jurors. 

As the law stands today in America, a man may demand trial 
by his peers. But while he cannot select his neighbors to swear 
him free as a jury, he can do the next thing, which is to prevent 
being tried by an intelligent jury when his interests would suffer 
if sensible people were to judge him. No guilty man or woman 
wants to risk his or her fate in the hands of people of common 
sense. So we have the farce of what is known as mongrel jury 
trials. 

If a young and pretty woman is on trial for murder, the de¬ 
fense is always emotional insanity if she is guilty; and her 
lawyer will tie up the business of the courts for days selecting 
a jury that will be moved by his plea and her tears, so that she 
will be found to be innocent. To thus throw dust in the eyes of 
the men who are to hear the case, he will see that there are young 
fellows on the panel; fellows who cannot stand the sight of a 
baby in court whose mother in cold blood committed a foul mur¬ 
der; fellows who shed tears and keep several handkerchiefs to 
check the flow as the emotional lawyers do their work. 

This farce is common experience in court trials. 

A jury that should be provided in five minutes, often requires 
two or three weeks to secure by the farcical methods in vogue. 
The proverbial law’s delays are thus intensified. Judges love to 
be the center of a notorious court trial; they are flattered by the 
attention of the press and public interest; they walk home 
proudly to their wives evenings as if to say, “Look, I am a great 
man. I am the presiding judge of such and such a trial. Behold 
me.” And they hunt through a dozen papers to read what is 


The Courts 


245 


said of their caustic cautions to counsel, and of their rulings, 
and of their listening with raised ears to the objections that flow 
in by hundreds from the learned attorneys, and so allow the case 
to drag through weary weeks while the peopled business in the 
courts must stand and wait on this nonsense. 

If the case is one where vast financial interests are involved 
and there are issues to be tried by jury, the following will be 
chosen. We take the actual personal make-up of the jury in 
such a case: There were twelve men finally secured and we will 
begin with the foreman and describe them by numbers: 

No. 1.—Foreman; a painter by trade; not had any schooling 
after he was six; works for day wages when he can get work. 

No. 2.—An old man living in the suburbs. Has no occupation. 
Gets his living raising chickens, but has only seventeen at this 
time, and is supported by his married daughter who lives with 
him. Can read easily but not good at figures. 

No. 3.—A middle-aged man who is known as a sandwich man 
on the streets, carrying a sign fore and aft. 

No. 4.—A barber by trade, but not working much. 

No. 5.—A church sexton; poor but honest. Never went to 
school after he was ten. 

No. 6.—A janitor of an office building. Can count up to fifty. 

No. 7.—An ashes collector, waiting for a job. 

No. 8.—An old man; was once a milkman, drove a milk cart in 
the old days; kept account in chalk on the cellar door; not much 
with figures. 

No. 9.—A man with weak lungs, but in need of work, and able 
to earn his fees as a juror. 

No. io.—A clerk at a soda fountain from and after he was 
fifteen years old; at first washed the glasses; afterwards mixed 
the drinks; never attended school after he was twelve. Do not 
know what he learned. 

No. 11.—A dry goods clerk’s assistant; got the boxes down, 
and kept the floor swept. Not good at figures. 

No. 12.—A one-armed man who had been a beggar but was 
reformed, and did odd jobs anywhere. Was once good at figures, 
but did not like that kind of education; otherwise intelligent. 

Here is an actual jury selected to try a financial case involv¬ 
ing seven hundred thousand dollars. 

More than this it is a typical jury. 


246 


Brain Tests 


From scores of veniremen the lawyers quarrel for days until 
they find some men who know nothing of the merits of the case 
to begin with, and nothing of the merits of anything else to end 
with. 

Step into any court where a trial is in progress; ascertain what 
the issue is; look over the panel of twelve men that are trying it; 
and see if you can find our twelve jurors. It is a fact that men 
are wanted on the jury who have no fixed opinions; who are not 
familiar with anything in particular or anybody connected with 
the case, who have not read the papers concerning it, who can 
bring a dead interest into the trial, who favor or do not favor 
certain kinds of punishment, and are perfectly neutral on all 
subjects. A judge once halted the silly examination of venire¬ 
men by the statement: “It appears to me that you gentlemen 
are trying to find men with blank minds to sit in this trial. ” 

On an average from ten to thirty percent of the time devoted 
to a trial is taken up with getting the panel of jurymen. 

These delays help to account for the fact that all justice is 
tied up by one such cause or another. Fifty percent of the time 
is wasted in idle quarrels of counsel. Here is another cause 
of the law’s delay. 

At a meeting of the soundest business men of the country, an 
annual assembling of them, the Chairman said: “Another 
theme that I wish to speak upon is the recommendation by Chief 
Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Mr. Taft, that some¬ 
thing be done by the influential bodies of this country to remedy 
the faulty methods of the law and of court procedure. That 
sentiment is echoed by every business man in this broad land. 
Something should be done. But who is to do it? How can any¬ 
one begin doing it ? I have watched the juries of many courts in 
my lifetime, and I wish to tell you in the most solemn manner 
that I have never yet seen a jury that was qualified to decide the 
case that was before it. They have all been misfits. Some men 
have been high-minded and of good quality as men, but not ex¬ 
perienced in rendering decisions put before them. I have seen 
hundreds of cases tried where no right verdicts could have been 
rendered by the untrained and non-expert juries that had to 
pass on them. Our people will never be justly served by the 
courts as long as we have these misfit juries .’ 9 

The whole system is barbaric. 


The Courts 


247 


As the reader will see by referring to the earlier pages of this 
work, and the Contents also, we are heartily in favor of govern¬ 
ment on a business basis; and of court proceedings on a business 
basis. The man of business is trained. He must adopt methods 
that have for their foundation what has been termed concen¬ 
trated common sense. We do not refer to the corner store 
merchant; he is only a merchant. But we have in mind the 
organizers and managers of the giant business companies that 
must move with the perfection of a complicated machine with 
perfect parts and perfect action; no jarring, no friction, no 
crashing disarrangement and breakage. 

Compare a perfect business organization with its total exemp¬ 
tion of friction, with the United States Senate with its eternal 
friction; and you see the value of business training and business 
methods in the government; and in the courts. When the law¬ 
yers start their battles, there is nothing but friction. Why 
should it be so, when the trial is conducted for the ostensible pur¬ 
pose of reaching a just decision? 

What can be nearer right than the following methods: 

1. Conduct the government on the soundest business basis. 

2. Conduct the law-making bodies on the soundest business 
basis. 

3. Conduct all court trials on the soundest business basis. 

There were gathered together a goodly number of the leading 

business men to this country; and we are informed that Chief 
Justice Taft spoke to them in words somewhat as follows: 
“Gentlemen, it would be one of the most important and bene¬ 
ficial reforms that could be accomplished if our courts could 
adopt better and speedier methods of transacting business with¬ 
out lessening the protection that should be afforded all those who 
come to them for aid.” These are not the exact words, yet the 
exact meaning is in them; but the great jurist added these words 
which are exact: “I know of no better model for the court than 
the perfectly conducted business. ’’ 

This is all we claim in this study. 

Do away with the childish proceedings that are made to look so 
important, and adopt something that has sound basis in common 
sense. 

A judge of a court who had taken to himself a wife who was 
the daughter of a great merchant, thought he would give the wife 


248 Brain Tests 

a rare day of enjoyment by having her attend a trial over which 
he was to preside. It so happened that she had never seen a 
court trial. At the end of the day when he joined her, he asked, 
“How did you like it? The proceedings were very solemn and 
dignified, were they not?” She gave a quaint smile and said, 
“I have seen my father in several Directors’ meetings of his 
company, and if he were to have allowed the business transac¬ 
tions to be carried on the way you did those wrangles in your 
court, the directors would all have resigned. You spent all day 
in doing nothing. It was not even boys’ play; boys have lucid 
intervals.” She had inherited the business acumen that had 
ruled her father’s life, and made him worthy of his success. 

The whole system is barbaric. 

It has been handed down from the darkest of the dark ages. 

Justice fails in nine cases out of every ten, even if the cases 
were not subjected to the discouraging delays that have made all 
law a travesty on the whole pretense of reaching sound 
conclusions. 

If justice is ever done it is after such difficulties that the party 
seeking help is glad when once he frees himself from the clutches 
of this semi-savage system; a torment from the moment he 
contemplates it until the rites are over. 

Such a manner of dealing out so-called justice is most pitiable. 

Do away at once with misfit juries. 

Then change the fabric of the jury system. 

It is wrong to try a criminal case in the county where the 
crime is committed. There are a hundred reasons why this 
should not be done. The first is that there can hardly be found 
twelve men who have not had an opinion on the matter. Some 
are willing to deny it in order to get on the jury and convict the 
criminal. Others deny it because they are friendly with the 
defendant and wish to hang the jury or acquit the accused. It 
is a common fact, well known to lawyers, that the men who say 
they have never formed opinions are the ones who have really 
made up their minds what they would do if put on the jury. 
It is generally safer to accept men who admit they have read the 
papers and have some idea of the case, but that any opinions 
they had formed could be changed by the evidence. They are 
more likely to be honest. 

If you bring suit against a man in a civil case, his friends and 


The Courts 


249 


relatives are kept from the jury. It is also the law in many 
States that no citizen can sit on a jury to try a case against the 
town or city in which the juryman lives, as he might not wish 
to mulct his town in damages; so he is excused as being 
interested. 

When you try a criminal in the county where the crime was 
committed you have no end of difficulties. One is that the whole 
county is more or less interested. The other is the trouble in 
finding an impartial jury. In the nature of things it ought to be 
impossible to find an impartial jury in a prominent case in the 
same county. The panel is asked to try a case against a fellow 
citizen. Then the verdict is, in any great case, difficult to obtain. 
Feeling runs high sometimes. Of course the small fry go 
through the grind of the court like small fish through a net, only 
they land in jail more readily. But an important case results in 
a hung jury too often. The county spends many thousands of 
dollars on a single trial; and the people pay this in taxes. 

The sole aim of law should be exact justice. 

Had the case been transferred to a neutral county, far away 
from that of the crime, where no one knew the criminal or his 
victim, the panel would have been filled in five minutes instead 
of three weeks; the verdict might have been a just one; and the 
law might have been vindicated. 

There are certain kinds of crime that can never be punished in 
the county where they were committed. There are cases that 
will invariably miscarry unless they are tried by impartial juries. 

Of course the law says that the criminal must be tried in the 
county of the offence; but that is only law; it can be changed. 
The argument in its favor is that in the olden days the carrying 
off of a prisoner away from his friends meant that he would 
never return, whether innocent or guilty. But no such danger 
lurks in this land. 

If you insist on trying the man in the county of his crime, 
knowing that he will not be convicted, why try him at all ? Why 
go through mere mockery? It is this foolish law that makes all 
law distrusted; and as law is the protecting arm of the nation, 
why cripple it into utter uselessness ? It is because people suffer 
long and patiently until the break comes. Then all these mis¬ 
carriages of justice will be remembered. 

Absolute impartiality should be the aim of the law; and to try 


250 


Brain Tests 


a man among his friends and by his friends, cannot give the 
State and the man such impartiality. No crime should be tried 
in the county where it was committed if it is of a serious nature. 

No man should be paid to assist a criminal to escape, for it is 
a duty of loyalty to the nation as a whole that crimes, with their 
dangers to life and liberty, should be stopped; and swift and sure 
convictions are the only means of stopping them. When a man 
is paid to try by trickery, subterfuge, technicalities and every 
fair and unfair scheme to free a criminal, he is putting in jeop¬ 
ardy the lives of himself and of his own family; but he does not 
know it and does not care so long as he can make a reputation. 

The lawyer is a paid man, and his desire is victory, no matter 
what the consequence to the public. It is never true that he de¬ 
sires his client convicted if he is guilty. A great law firm spent 
$18,000 for the cost of witnesses and experts to secure the acquit¬ 
tal of a woman charged with a double murder; this sum, as they 
knew, being an investment for their future. After the acquittal, 
clients, rich and well-to-do, flocked to that law firm, and the 
$18,000 was made up by new business in thirty days. You may 
say this is business, but it is trickery; and the stake is human 
life. The freeing of that woman who was admittedly guilty of 
the act, set going a thousand other women with revolvers seek¬ 
ing revenge for any real or imagined wrong, and an orgy of 
shooting was the result, which has not yet ended; it has only 
just begun. 

When a man supposed to be loyal to the courts of justice, 
desires to set free a criminal, from that moment he has no right 
in a court of justice. This is the reason why a paid attorney 
should not be admitted to a trial. He does not work for the ends 
of truth and right; he seeks to free his client; that is the goal 
of his efforts for which he receives money. As nine out of every 
ten criminals who are set free by verdict are guilty, the paid 
lawyers are spending their efforts and much of their lives in 
securing injustice. No perfectly sane man can wish for the 
freedom of a criminal; and to be paid to wish for it is doubly 
wrong. A judge of court who had sat in the trials of criminals 
for many years said, ‘ 4 1 have had to receive verdicts of acquittal 
in hundreds of cases, and in all but two of them, the accused 
parties were guilty. Had they been tried before a jury of ex¬ 
perts, they would have been punished, life would have been 


The Courts 


251 


protected to that extent, and crime with its costs would have 
been decreased .’’ The costs referred to are those of hunting 
criminals, of trying them, and of feeding them for life or long 
terms at the public expense. These costs mount to hundreds 
of thousands of dollars in any State each year, and would many 
times support a system of Public Attorneys and Court Question¬ 
ers who would prove impartial and clear the dockets of the con¬ 
gestion of delayed cases. 

The man who wishes to secure the escape of a guilty man, and 
who is paid for so wishing, is not impartial; and justice depends 
first of all on impartial participants in its courts. The Public 
Attorneys are sure to be impartial, as are the Court Questioners, 
and the Judges. The charge may be made that public officials 
are not always true to their duties; but the prevalence of wrongs 
is so persistent today that no person seems to possess the ambi¬ 
tion to do his best. You cannot saturate the country with fraud, 
outlawry, disregard of the government and courts, and a general 
distrust of everything, and expect politically elected officials to 
do their duty. We know that practically all prosecuting at¬ 
torneys are doing as little as they can to check or punish crime, 
for the reason that they know they have no backing from any 
source to encourage them. 

In a new order of things to which we must inevitably move, 
the desire to keep up with the spirit of right will control all 
public officials. Then those that are untrue to their trust must 
face a penalty that will convince them that it does not pay to be¬ 
tray the public. Prosecutors today say they cannot get their 
cases tried, owing to the law’s delay, the congested courts, and 
the defective jury system; three indictments against our condi¬ 
tions as we find them. Here are proofs of the existence of 
wrongs coming from reluctant officials. Where there is a wrong 
there is a right in the opposite direction. Turn it about and 
find the right. Then get rid of the wrong. This is the new 
civilization. 

We are tied hand and foot to the dark ages. 

In our jury trials, in our court procedure, in our legal forms 
and maxims, in everything pertaining to the struggle for justice 
on every hand, whether between litigants or between the State 
and the criminal, we are tied hand and foot by the influence and 
inheritance of the dark ages. Our twelve men come from the 


252 


Brain Tests 


twelve neighbors who were hired or coaxed to perjure themselves 
to set free a friend or master. It is very difficult to bribe an 
appointed judge; not so difficult to bribe an elected judge, and 
quite easy to bribe a mongrel juror. We claim to have knowl¬ 
edge and to some extent acquaintance with the men who have 
been appointed to the highest courts in the United States and in 
some States; men who hold their positions for life; and we have 
tried to hunt down all circumstances and conditions that might 
lead even to the suggestion of bribery; and in this work we have 
had the advice of men of prominence who are in positions to 
detect suspicious phases of trials and decisions; and we are 
positive that in a wide experience covering more than forty years 
of investigation, not a single appointed judge has even been 
subjected to the temptation of bribery, or political influence. 
If there are but few honest men in this country, as someone has 
publicly stated, they are on the benches of the highest courts 
where they have been given life positions. 

Why? Because, assuming they might have been dishonest in 
other courts had they been subjected to the system of elections, 
having been appointed for life, they have severed all their con¬ 
nections with politics. 

No judge can remain honest at heart, if so in fact, if he is the 
fruit of politics; although here and there one who is really 
noble and upright is put into office by that route. We speak of 
the great majority of elected judges; all the fruit of bribery in 
some form or other, and all kneeling with ears to the ground for 
the pulse of public opinion. As we come down the scale from 
the upper courts, to those of medium standing, the judges are 
nearer to the people, which means to the classes that elect them; 
the old time saloon influence, the bawdy houses, the slums, and 
the criminal classes. These in cities and towns make up a 
large part of the successful party; so much so that the minority, 
always composed of the decent classes, are unable to assert 
themselves except in special times of revulsion against their 
bedfellows by the semi-decent voters that mingle with those that 
are disreputable. The purifying of the ballot was the charm 
that has drawn women to the polls; and here is one of the most 
potent promises of the future, provided women break up the 
parties and follow the methods of election set forth in the final 
pages of this book. 


The Courts 


253 


But in addition to tying our courts and officials with the bar¬ 
barism of the dark ages which controls all law today, we have 
the impurity of politics handicapping any effort to secure release 
from this old time slavery. As long as you submit to politicians, 
to parties, to re-elections, you will be helpless to rid the country 
of the wrongs that shroud the courts of so-called justice. 

Strike at the three roots of all national wrongs: 

1. Strike at the strangle-hold that politicians have on every 
phase of our government and our courts. 

2. Strike at the system of re-elections that makes all elected 
officials useless as government servants, seeking first, last and 
always, their retention of the strangle-hold mentioned. 

3. Strike at the party system, that gives us a government that 
is a house divided against itself; working first and always in the 
interests of party, and creating suspicions and hatred for their 
fellow citizens. 

When you have found a way to rid the nation of these three 
greatest evils, then the rest will follow; not till then. The 
politician in power, and the party in power, are able to block and 
kill all attempts to throw off the wrongs that weigh the nation 
down. In all times the people have been ruled by tyrants. 
Once there were chiefs; then kings and usurpers; then con¬ 
querors. Like the Homans that enslaved all the known world 
and made the early Britons so abject in their misery that these 
natives destroyed their offspring rather than permit them to 
grow up and become the wretched serfs of the invaders, the 
politicians of our era are merely another form of the devas¬ 
tating Romans, the Caesars of all times. 

When any party is too powerful, whether an army or an elected 
one, there comes the spirit of tyranny seeking to enslave those 
that are helpless. In religion, it is said by men in high author¬ 
ity that it is best that there should be balance of denominations; 
as one overwhelming sect might not be generous in its treatment 
of opponents that are divided among themselves. 

There is a far away land of mighty numbers, of great natural 
resources and wealth, that stands in the proportion of nine to 
one; or 90 percent of the entire population helpless in the 
clutches of the ten percent; and visitors to that country say 
that the ruling power is composed of less than one in a hundred 
or one percent. The vast majority are absolutely helpless. A 


254 


Brain Tests 


few tyrants secured a strangle-hold on them. Possessing the 
strength and the numbers of an avalanche, they do not know 
what to do. If the enslaved peoples of any country knew what 
to do, they could easily throw off any tyrant’s yoke. Napoleon’s 
armies of less than half a million held in subjection nations 
that totaled over a hundred millions. William the Conqueror 
invaded England with a handful of men; and his power re¬ 
mained for centuries. It is always the tyranny of the small 
minority. 

When you throw off the yoke of a bad king, or a mother coun¬ 
try that is holding you in slavery, you at once accept the yoke 
of another tyrant. You bend your neck unknowingly and assist 
in the placing of the yoke there. Our forefathers thought that 
King George was an unfair ruler, and they set up the American 
Revolution, discarded his tyranny, and immediately bent their 
necks to another yoke that is holding them down to the level 
of the dark ages: the Politicians. 

It is one of the conditions of national slavery that the masses 
are mis-ruled and abused by a small group of men. William 
the Conqueror subjugated many times his own numbers; 
Napoleon did the same; Caesar the same; and American politi¬ 
cians the same. It is another condition of national slavery that 
the masses that are in the great majority are helpless before the 
tyrants. The whole nation suffers because they are paralyzed. 
It is the strangle-hold of the politicians battling the puny efforts 
of more than one hundred million of people to throw off their 
yoke. 

You who read these pages are helpless; at least you think 
you are. 

But your mistake is in seeking to right the wrongs at the 
futile end. If your taxes are more than double what they 
should be, you start fighting the expenditures, instead of elimi¬ 
nating the men that make those expenditures possible. As long 
as you fail to eradicate the politicians, so long will you face 
wrongs that cannot be remedied. The American Revolution 
came because the wrongs of the people were beyond endurance; 
did they seek to right those wrongs? To some extent. What 
did they do? They drove out of existence the source of those 
wrongs; which was the hold of the English Government in its 
presence here as a ruling force. 


The Courts 


255 


People are prone to reason backwards. 

Everywhere we hear of the unrest of our people because of 
the excessive taxes, and the interference with prosperity, and 
other depressing evils, following the coming into power of a 
political party. Knowing of this chafing unrest, anarchists 
come among us and seek to fire anew the flame of revolution; 
they teach revolution and preach it in secret and in all places 
where the people are staggering under this burden of wrongs. 

What do these preachers of anarchy recommend as the cure 
of the countless wrongs? Revolution. 

What would be the first step in a revolution? 

The overthrowing of the Government, and of all law. 

This is reasoning backward. It will not accomplish anything 
but added misery and cumulative disasters, for it is not based 
on sense or on a single principle of right. If your parent has 
an abscess, you can cure the sore by killing the parent; but is 
it sense ? If your house is infested by rats you can destroy the 
rats or drive them out by burning the house to the ground; but 
is it sense? 

So long as anarchists or socialists or what else advocate the 
overthrow of order, it will be just the same as slaying a parent 
to destroy a cancer or blood sore. No nation can exist as any¬ 
thing but a mob unless it is organized on the foundation of 
order. Disorder is the beginning of chaos. There is a demand 
to weaken the vitality of the Supreme Court; you might as 
well cut out your heart for the purpose of relieving a faulty 
circulation. 

It is not the fault of any government that wrongs exist; see 
if you can see the difference between a government and the 
men who use it for the purpose of oppression. Every govern¬ 
ment whether of the tribe or of the greatest nation on earth is 
the attempt of Nature to establish order. There can be noth¬ 
ing safe on earth or in the sky unless a ruling government con¬ 
trols it. The stars and sun systems with their planets are all 
kept in order by laws that govern them. Man, weaker than the 
worlds about him, has still more need of order; and government 
is nothing but a plan of order. 

Men abuse the use of government. Kings have done so, and 
have perished. Parties have done this, and are doing it al¬ 
ways, and still one or the other of them remains. 


256 


Brain Tests 


Revolution if it comes at all should be against the wrongs that 
are making our Government helpless. Remove those wrongs; 
and you have then achieved the greatest thing in civilization. 
The basis and fabric of our government are as near perfect as 
the brain of man can conceive. We have a wonderful frame¬ 
work ; faults as people have thought them have been removed by 
changes in the fabric of the constitution, showing them a new 
regime can be ushered in through the channels of peace. 

The only great fault that remains is the archaic system of 
politics, and the Courts and Jury Trials. 

Mobs are brought into being by the terrible wrongs that the 
decent people are unable to remove. Wicked and unfair as a 
mob is, do you know that it is first inspired by the sense of 
right seeking to oust a grievous wrong? When the law diddles 
with rapers, men of good red blood will protect their wives and 
daughters; their spirit is right; their methods wrong. If there 
were no politicians and no parties and no re-election, there 
would be no rapine, no bestial freedom of passion, for the fear 
of a law made to meet such cases swiftly and surely, would end 
the temptation. Cure your mob spirit by making adequate 
laws, which cannot be done as long as you have politicians to 
block them in the interest of the people who put them in office. 

The Cincinnati mob that leveled the great courthouse to the 
ground thought it had for its justification the fact that mur¬ 
derers that had been acquitted in alarming numbers without a 
conviction, were in alliance with the politicians; and the many 
thousands of angry men that gathered in that city and destroyed 
the court building thought to teach a lesson to the powers that 
were responsible for the injustice of political verdicts for crim¬ 
inals. That was an incipient revolution. From such a start 
grew the mob that overthrew the French kingdom. The most 
significant result of the Cincinnati mob was the fact that, for 
years afterward, not a murderer was set free; all were con¬ 
victed. This fact shows that the judges and juries either were 
cowards, or dishonest. They were cowards if they brought 
about the conviction of criminals after the mob had done its 
work, and in fear of the feeling that inspired that destruction. 
They were dishonest if they failed to secure convictions before 
the attack by the mob and could have done so. 

In any event this incident proves that this country stands on 


The Courts 


257 


the edge of danger in that it permits itself to he oppressed by 
the greatest of all tyrants, the politician; while the masses of the 
people, groaning under the burden of misrule, are in a mood to 
begin a revolution in order to get rid of this pest; with the 
mistake sure to occur that they will not perceive the source of 
their wrongs. Not one man in a thousand thinks that his double 
taxation, and the constant interference with prosperity are 
caused by politics, parties and re-elections. He may rise with 
a suddenness that cannot be resisted or controlled, and sweep 
away the structure that is his only protection, our national gov¬ 
ernment ; not knowing that in so doing he is bringing down the 
walls on his own head. 

Every mob is an incipient revolution. 

All that is needed is that it take on numbers sufficient to make 
its work effective on a larger scale than it at first planned. 

It is not the law of right to efface a wrong by criminal acts; 
and this principle should not be overlooked. Irresponsible mobs, 
like all mobs but more dangerous, may set fire to the spirit of 
revolution, and before we know it, the whole land will be aflame. 
This is an age of defiance of the law. It is an age in which all 
classes, high, middle and low, are law-breakers. Their respect 
for the law has vanished; very little of it remains. With such a 
feeling and in such times, the wild influence of anarchists will 
perhaps strike a spark, small in its locality that may move on 
to havoc. This idea is ridiculed by the press and by politicians; 
so have all such ideas been disregarded on the eve of other up¬ 
heavals of government. Those who are most secure in their be¬ 
lief, are sometimes the most insecure. 

In this section of our study we find that the great wrong is 
first in the law’s delay; and this fact we have considered care¬ 
fully, and shown that the only remedy is in the use of Court 
Questioners and Public Attorneys; keeping all lawyers out of 
the courts. 

The next wrong that people resent is the uncertainty of pun¬ 
ishment of the criminal. All men and women know instinctively 
that if the accused party, knowing his guilt, has a feeling of 
doubt about being tried and convicted, he is bolder and less 
afraid to take his chances. In England where there is only one 
murder to our two hundred, the law acts so that the criminal can 
have no doubt of his arrest and punishment. 


258 


Brain Tests 


The people also resent the leniency of the judges. But these 
are always elected judges. Appointed judges with no com¬ 
ing election to provide for, are generally more just to the public 
than the elected ones, and crime is lessened. 

Also there is a general resentment on the part of the people 
toward the ineffective methods of punishing crime; the parole; 
the vague sentence; and the pardoning power, that is used al¬ 
most exclusively for political purposes. 

Add these together: The law’s delay; the uncertainty of the 
criminal. being caught, tried and convicted; the leniency of 
judges; and the various ways of soothing the convict; all these 
make your recipe for the mob violence among our people. Peo¬ 
ple wait to the breaking point, then take the law into their own 
hands. It is one of the reasons why the hooded fraternity may 
some day rise above all law; it is a dangerous risk to furnish 
fuel for such an uprising; and we say it with positiveness that 
these wrongs are feeding the feeling that something must be 
done to overthrow them. 

Our plan is to take time by the forelock and remove the wrongs 
while it is not too late; while we can do so by due process of 
law; while we may avoid the avalanche of hatred that may soon 
crystallize into action, attended by bloodshed and the overthrow 
of all safe government. Let us determine to do these things: 

1. Put an end to the law’s delay. 

2. Let would-be criminals know that there will be no doubt of 
swift, certain and effective punishment for crime. 

3. Make it impossible for judges to display leniency. 

4. Stop coddling the convicted criminal. 

Before you do this you will have to wipe out all politicians, all 
parties, and all re-elections; for politicians will not permit you 
to end the law’s delay by legislation, preferring that you resort 
to mob law; they will not permit you to frame new laws to se¬ 
cure certainty of swift and effective punishment, for the crim¬ 
inal classes are more or less the allies of politicians, and are pro¬ 
tected by them. 

5. But the real revolution is to come by peaceful methods and 
by due process of law when you have got rid of the politician, 
and are free to give this country a jury system that shall har¬ 
monize with the times in which we live. As we have shown, our 
present system came from the old custom of allowing the accused 


The Courts 


259 


to hunt up twelve men who were friends of his who would swear 
he was innocent whether they knew anything about it or not. 
That was barbaric, and in the dark ages; yet the spirit of that 
method lives today. What is needed is a jury that shall repre¬ 
sent our own age. 

We try to be most conservative. If we were radical or un¬ 
reasonable we would advocate the methods that would meet 
disapproval from the highly trained men of business; yet we 
ask only that those men who know how to maintain perfect order 
in their own government of great business interests and secure 
perfect results, shall be our guides in the running of the Govern¬ 
ment, in the management of public affairs, and in the conduct of 
court trials. 

Not until you agree with us will you obtain any benefit from 
these lessons. That which includes perfect order, and perfect 
management of affairs of any kind, cannot lead us astray. The 
best jurists, and the best thinkers of the country agree with us 
in this position that the methods of great and successful business 
organizations should be the models to be followed in the govern¬ 
ment, in the law-making bodies, and in the court proceedings. 

Having laid this foundation, we come to the most flagrant 
wrong ever inflicted on a civilized people; that of trial before 
mongrel juries. A mongrel jury is one, not of low mental or 
moral status, but not trained in the hearing, analyzing and judg¬ 
ing of facts and of law as applied to those facts. We have pre¬ 
sented one such jury in this test; it does not measure up to others 
we have known in former years; but it teaches us that men 
drawn from all walks of life are not experts. 

As we take our example from a well managed business organ¬ 
ization we are forced to this conclusion: if such a business com¬ 
pany had a question to be settled, it would not leave the decision 
to a jury drawn from all the walks of life; nor to any mongrel 
jury; it would seek experts. For this reason you will see why 
there are no law suits in court between great business concerns. 
They never fight each other, because they would refuse to allow 
a mixed jury of non-experts drawn from all the walks of life 
to pass judgment on matters of which they had no knowledge, 
and for which they had received no training. 

There is no constitutional law that requires a jury to be drawn 
from all the walks in life. They may be taken from any source. 


260 


Brain Tests 


Judges are men who have risen gradually to their positions by 
studying the law and by gaining experience in the courts; they 
are experts. Prosecuting attorneys need not be lawyers to com¬ 
ply with the law, but must be in order to know their duties; they 
are trained and are experts. 

In the trial of a criminal case there are three divisions of the 
court: first, the presiding judge; second, the attorney handling 
the prosecution; third, the jury. Each division has its place and 
its separate duties. There is a necessity for having the first two 
divisions composed of experts; and there is fully as much reason 
for having the jury made up of experts. 

We have suggested that no lawyers should be allowed in court; 
by that we mean to participate as lawyers in the proceedings. 
But the Court Questioner should be a lawyer; and we believe 
that he should either come from years of experience as a juror 
on an expert jury; or the reverse should be done; he should pass 
from the rank of Questioner to that of an expert juror. In 
either event he should be a lawyer. Public Attorneys should be 
elevated to the rank of Court Questioners; and their next pro¬ 
motion should be to the bench as judge. This seems a logical 
sequence of advancement, and will some day meet with favor, as 
there is no other real remedy for the many evils that are con¬ 
nected with the present faulty and vicious system. 

Many honest lawyers are available for these positions. 

As there will be many more Court Questioners than there will 
be need of judges, it is not possible for all to be promoted in that 
direction. The Court Questioner is a semi-judge. The jurors 
should be made to understand that they too are semi-judges; they 
judge the law and the evidence; while the presiding justices de¬ 
cide the law only and maintain an orderly procedure. 

The various branches of court business should be made up as 
follows: 

As there are many lawyers who do not earn an ample living, 
they will be glad to be called into the three sets of official 
positions: 

1. Perhaps first as Expert Jurymen; or semi-judges; from 
which the future judges may be taken. 

2. From this position these lawyers may be appointed as 
Court Questioners; or they may be taken direct from the legal 
profession. 


The Courts 261 

3. From the Expert Jurymen or from the profession, the 
Public Attorneys may be taken. 

All three classes should hold office for twelve years, or unless 
promoted. They should be paid liberal salaries. They must not 
be elected, as that would start politics all over again. As the 
Judges are to be appointed by the Governor of each State; the 
Expert Jurors, Court Questioners and Public Attorneys should 
be appointed by a Commission composed of three State Senators, 
the County Commissioners, and the Judges. This method will 
keep the politicians out and insure wise selections. But any 
method that will avoid politics will suffice. 

Here we have jurors that are in the legal profession to begin 
with; and who therefore do not have to be called from the va¬ 
rious walks of life. It is unfair to take a business man from his 
office, a painter from his painting work, a carpenter from his 
employment, or any citizen from his duties and compel them to 
sit in trials for which they have neither liking nor fitness. They 
are put to loss. If they have demands on their time, they can¬ 
not abandon them without causing inconvenience. If there are 
no demands on their time, they are as a rule not of sufficient 
quality to sit in judgment on matters of importance. The worst 
of all jurors are the loafers who hang about court in the hope of 
being put in the panel and earning a few dollars. They know 
how to answer all inquiries as to their bias, knowledge, impar¬ 
tiality and other things, as they are what are called professional 
jurors. 

Some terms of court last for two or three months; the men who 
are worth having on juries cannot afford to take that amount of 
time from their avocations; it is a wrong to them, their families, 
and to the public. 

No judge sits in a trial if he is related to any party in the case, 
or has any prejudice; he dismisses himself. So if there are vital 
reasons why a member of the Expert Jury should not sit, he will 
do the same as the judge does, dismiss himself for that case. The 
same should be true in the activities of the other officials. By 
this plan every case will be tried on its merits. When it is 
hinted that the Expert Jurors might lack the experience needed 
to sit in a case, that objection has a thousandfold more force 
when applied to a mongrel jury. 

Disagreements should be avoided. If there are twelve men or 


262 


Brain Tests 


as many as twelve on the jury whether of mixed sexes or all men, 
or all women, the verdict in criminal cases should be reached by 
the agreement of not less than nine; and in civil cases of not less 
than seven. In France the majority of a jury suffices in civil 
trials; and there they have less delay and less injustice than in 
this country. 

In this country the aim of the party in the wrong is to secure 
a disagreement; the aim of the party in the right is to secure an 
agreement. The holding out of one juror makes it impossible to 
lay aside the belief that bribery is easier in corrupting one juror 
than three or four. We saw a case tried three times and at each 
trial one juror prevented an agreement. It was a case against a 
city. The City Attorney had been elected to office by political 
influence, and had just enough henchmen standing by him to 
enable him to control one man on a jury. In three terms of 
court before three different juries, this same case was tried and 
stalled by the disagreement of one juror. In the first two trials 
the suspicion of undue influence by the City Attorney over a 
single juryman was suspected so that when the third trial came 
on, he was watched and found to be in communication with a 
juror. The District Attorney allowed the case to proceed to a 
mis-trial; then had the juror and the City Attorney arrested. 
The juror confessed. Indictments were asked against the others 
who had in the first two trials forced a mis-trial; and they also 
confessed. 

In each of these three cases, one man held up the verdict. The 
cost to the county for the protracted trials, and the loss to the 
plaintiff, were serious. Had the law provided that the agree¬ 
ment of nine men should be sufficient for a verdict, it would 
have required the corrupting of four men instead of one to de¬ 
feat the case; and this would hardly be possible. Now it is quite 
easy to defeat justice. There is no well founded reason for re¬ 
quiring a verdict to be unanimous. Nine men could hardly go 
wrong. There have been many cases where jurors in their anx¬ 
iety to get home have given up their opinions to a single man; 
where eleven have capitulated to one; and have gone into court 
with a verdict that eleven men out of the twelve knew to be 
wrong and unjust. This thing has occurred many times. It 
should be made impossible. 

A hung jury should be as rare as a dishonest judge. 


The Courts 


263 


Locking up juries for the night and for a series of nights, is 
a most unnecessary thing when the jury and the trial are what 
they should be. Jurors come from the people, from the masses 
as a rule, and mingle with them even while the trial is in prog¬ 
ress ; and are subject to many influences that are not suspected 
in the courtroom. When one or more of them have made up 
their minds, as is often true, before the arguments are made, 
they will go to the jury room with a grim determination to fight 
for their ends or cause a disagreement. But often there are 
influences in the courtroom in the open that are too apparent to 
be overlooked, and that break up the mental acumen of the 
mongrel jury, if it ever had any. 

We knew a criminal lawyer who had helped many criminals 
to escape by one kind of method or another; by hung juries in 
a number of cases, and by influences with the prosecution in 
others; by verdicts of acquittal through perjury in quite a num¬ 
ber. After he had been in practice for some years, it almost al¬ 
ways happened that one or another of his former clients who had 
been freed, was in sight of getting on a jury; and by challenges 
for cause and peremptory, he generally managed to have such 
former client find his way to the panel. Then he knew there 
would never be a verdict against his later patron. He once 
made the statement that he could count more than sixty old 
clients as he called them, who were at large and qualified under 
the political law for jury duty; and it would be rare if at least 
one of this number did not get on some jury. He never had to 
approach him; never meet him; never communicate with him; 
all he had to do, when this old client sat in the jury box, was 
to give him a slow, half wink, which the juror returned; and 
there the sign language was ended. 

Such is one of the phases of trial by jury. 

Most lawyers seek panels that are easily worked by the emo¬ 
tional route. The defendant will have some very pretty women 
in the courtroom, to appear as wife and sister; and if the ac¬ 
cused cannot furnish them, the astute lawyer knows where they 
can be had. These pretty women sit and look like injured 
angels; are demure; look at the jurors each in turn and droop 
their eyes; weep dry tears behind lily white kerchiefs when the 
lawyer refers to them in his closing argument as the women 
who will suffer most at a verdict against this unfortunate man; 


264 


Brain Tests 


and go hence after the acquittal never to see the defendant 
again, but to serve the same lawyer in some other trial in another 
part of the city. 

Recently a judge in New York said at the beginning of the 
work of selecting a jury to try a woman murderer, or murderess 
as the people of exact speech would term her: “I would like 
once in my career on the bench to see jurors selected who will 
try a case with their heads and not with their hearts.’’ There 
are attorneys who are known as emotional advocates. They play 
upon the emotions of the men on the juries. 

All these bits of court history that we have related show the 
need of something different in legal procedure than that which 
now prevails, for the end of a trial should be justice based on the 
facts. 

No lawyer can be called honest who glories in the tricks that 
fool a jury. One attorney was asked by a judge, “Would you 
consent to have your client tried before a court of three judges?” 
The lawyer, not wishing to seem doubtful of the honesty of such 
a method, replied that the law contemplated a trial before a jury, 
and his client had that right guaranteed to him by the constitu¬ 
tion.—“But,” said the judge, “suppose there are twelve judges 
who are willing to act as a jury, would you be willing to submit 
the case to them? They would be a legal jury.”—The lawyer 
decided that such a jury was not composed of the peers of his 
client, and of course declined. 

It would be out of the question to have an unjust verdict ren¬ 
dered by an Expert Jury; and it is almost out of the question 
now to get a just verdict from a mongrel jury. 

Which is better ? 

Is it not far the wisest thing to do to set up our courts on the 
high pedestal of honor and justice, rather than on the political 
block of fraud, chicanery, mistrials and injustice? 

Now is the time to choose. 

The legal profession is so crowded today that there are but 
two classes of apparently successful lawyers: first, those who by 
real acumen have risen to positions where they dare charge fees 
that are prohibitive to people who need genuine assistance in the 
courts, but who are not by any means able to pay a tithe of them; 
and, second, those who are not able to obtain a practice sufficient 
to support them properly, and therefore must live by their wits. 


The Courts 


265 


They hunt for cases; send out decoys and runners to find clients; 
pretend to be able to do wonders but fail; promise all sorts of 
success without fulfillment; and stoop to methods that they 
would scorn to adopt if in better circumstances. When they get 
a case they cling to it like the proverbial gentleman of color in 
the companionship of the well-known foe of life. They invent 
items of expense to add to their bills; and create activities for 
which they must receive additional payment. They are really 
living by their wits. 

Out of this over-crowded profession there could come many 
men of honesty if the temptations and needs of life were not as 
acute; but it is unfair that people with just causes cannot have 
legal aid at reasonable cost and in the hands of reliable attorneys. 

That the legal profession as now constituted is not a benefit to 
the people of the nation, is admitted on all sides except by their 
own members. Everywhere you will find the opinion unanimous 
that lawyers are either extortionists or else dishonest. This 
opinion is so wide-spread and so near unanimous that it can¬ 
not be side-tracked by the pooh-poohs of the gentry themselves, 
or of their allies, the politicians. A judge of a high court made 
the statement in court that there was not an honest lawyer in a 
certain county; that all of them were a disgrace to the profes¬ 
sion they had sworn to uphold. 

In most bar associations the honest lawyers are either totally 
absent or else are so rare as to have no influence on the moral 
status of the profession. We can name several counties, some 
in one State and some in another, where we are absolutely posi¬ 
tive that not one of the attorneys was honest. In mentioning 
this fact to friends in other localities they said that what we 
had found true, was probably true in almost every part of the 
country. The really honest lawyer desires to see justice done; 
but this grade of honesty is too high to be considered. When 
we use the word, we take its common application. We know that 
the lawyer who by trickery, secures the acquittal of a guilty man, 
does not believe himself dishonest, and we leave him to his satis¬ 
fied opinion. We are quite well aware that the great corpora¬ 
tion lawyer who concocts a scheme by which his powerful client 
escapes the law, regards himself as perfectly honest but clever. 

Out of the bad and foul nests of low moral character in the 
legal profession come two greater evils: 


266 


Brain Tests 


1. The politicians are, in many instances, either practicing 
lawyers, or attorneys that could not make a living at the bar. 

2. The faults of court procedure are due exclusively to the 
lawyers. 

Here the two great evils have their source. 

It is human nature to succumb to temptation when want stares 
one in the face; and temptation has switched many a fine young 
man into a life of trickery and chicanery. 

In selecting Expert Jurors, Court Questioners and Public At¬ 
torneys, go to the new arrivals at the bar; to those younger men 
who have been there less than ten years; and there you will find 
many who are honest and able. In following the careers of such 
young men we find it the prevailing custom if those who are 
honest do not secure a lucrative practice in a decade, they will 
drift into business; they do this by thousands every year; and 
here you will secure men who will be fitted morally and legally 
to fill the positions named. 

Of the really honest lawyers, ninety percent will be found in 
their first ten or fifteen years of practice; after which those 
whose ability does not require doubtful methods and unfair deal¬ 
ings in order to secure them a living, will be found honorable 
and honest as judged by business standards. It is the able, 
but crafty counsel or attorney that lends his great ability to 
helping his clients defeat the law, or escape justice, that stands 
in the way of a better civilization; and yet here and there we find 
and know personally attorneys who are absolutely conscientious, 
and too honorable to assist in any kind of unfair methods. 

But you must keep all practicing lawyers from the courts if 
you wish to purify its procedure; we mean keep them from prac¬ 
ticing there as attorneys. The men of integrity in the legal pro¬ 
fession belong in court as jurors, questioners and judges, as far 
as they are needed. 

One of the ablest and most distinguished lawyers in America, 
Hon. Elihu Root, former Cabinet Officer, and mentioned as pros¬ 
pective candidate for the Presidency of the United States, in his 
capacity as Chairman of the National Committee for Improve¬ 
ment of the Law Courts and of the Law, said, “As lawyers we 
know much of our legal procedure and Court organization needs 
revision/ ’—The Root Committee reported among other things 
the following: “The defects in the law and the Courts lead to 


The Courts 


267 


two serious consequences; they create lack of respect for the law 
which lack of respect undermines the moral fiber of the nation, 
and becomes a cause of the anti-social conduct. As a result the 
rich are more apt to cheat, and those in immediate want, more 
apt to steal.’ 5 

At the national capital, on the twenty-third day of February, 
1923, the Root Committee met and organized what was named 
the American Law Institute, ostensibly to carry out the pro¬ 
visions referred to in the foregoing paragraph; to revise the law 
and the procedure of the Courts, and to secure the better admin¬ 
istration of justice. Mr. Root in his opening address among other 
remarks said, ‘ * The time is not far distant when American Courts 
no longer will have competent authority on which to base their 
decisions.” Governor Hadley, one of the Committee, said that 
in the United States there had been a breakdown of our criminal 
procedure, while in other countries the better court systems had 
resulted in convictions in such numbers compared with the 
crimes, that there was a steady decrease of homicides and other 
crimes in those countries while in this country they were steadily 
increasing, and life was being more and more jeopardized by our 
faulty court methods. The report of the Committee referring 
to the inability of litigants to secure justice said, “ Among the 
causes of the law’s uncertainty were the attempts of courts to 
distinguish between cases where there was no difference, the 
great volume of recorded decisions, no less than 65,000 published 
in five years recently, the ignorance of lawyers and judges and 
the number and nature of new legal cases raising new points of 
law.” 

This move for the revision of law and court procedure which 
resulted in the organization of the American Law Institute, was 
recommended by the ablest lawyers and judges of the United 
States; and the membership includes Chief Justice Taft, and 
others of the Supreme Court, with the chief justices and high 
court judges of the various States, many Governors and former 
cabinet officers, and the most distinguished men of America, num¬ 
bering four hundred. This assembly of the best intellects we 
have in this land, indicates the threatening aspects of the general 
situation, and verifies the statement that we have just made as 
coming from the Hon. Elihu Root, and which is so ominous that 
we will repeat it: “The defects in the law and in the Courts 


268 


Brain Tests 


lead to two serious consequences: they create lack of respect for 
the law which lack of respect undermines the moral fiber of the 
nation, and becomes a cause of the anti-social conduct. As a re¬ 
sult the rich are more apt to cheat, and those in immediate 
want more apt to steal/ ’ 

This new American Law Institute, instead of striking deep in 
the reform, will do nothing more than superficial work. It will 
try to reduce a few million hair-splitting court decisions down 
to a few hundred thousand and call it a code. Napoleon wiped 
out all court decisions of every kind and had written his great 
code from native common sense. We cannot afford to do this 
while we retain our courts and our lawyers. Instead of trying 
cases on business principles we will still have them tried on tech¬ 
nicalities by lawyers with endless talk, and judges with water 
flowing through the brain crevices where good judgment and 
real wisdom should be found. 

There is only one sane way in legal procedure and that is 
the way that would be adopted by any body of experienced busi¬ 
ness men; just as one great merchant said: “Let us have any 
case however complicated submitted to our business men, and 
they will settle it in less than one tenth of the time that is wasted 
in the courts, and the decision will be right/’—That is the only 
right way to settle a case; by the good judgment of men trained 
in business methods who know how to apply the principles of 
sound sense to all disputes. A group of business men attended 
court for three weeks while a simple case dragged through all 
that time; and they agreed that if they had been given the case 
to settle, they could have done it in thirty minutes “provided the 
lawyers and the judge had been incarcerated during that time/ , 

This is one example of the reason why there is a wide-spread 
disrespect for the law and the courts; why the rich are more apt 
to cheat, and the poor more apt to steal. 

If you wish the courts to regain this lost respect, the following 
plan must be adopted, and no other will do as well; it begins 
at the root of the whole vicious system, and upturns the entire 
fabric of wrong and substitutes the only measures that are 
sane: 

1. All Judges must be non-political; that is, must be appointed 
for life as are those of the United States Supreme Court, which 
in all its long history has never had an unfit appointment. 


The Courts 


269 


2. All Courts must consist of Judge as the presiding officer; 
of an Expert Jury serving for a long term of years, with num¬ 
bers sufficient for alternate juries and extra members. 

3. All trials must be conducted by two Court Questioners, one 
for each side of a case, and others for coming cases as required, 
all appointed for long terms of office, and composed of young 
lawyers of established ability and integrity. 

4. All trials must be prepared in advance by outside lawyers 
who shall not take part in any trial, and who shall furnish the 
Court Questioners with the full history of the case. 

5. There shall be established at the public expense a bureau of 
attorneys who shall take charge, without cost to litigants, of all 
cases where they are requested to do so, when litigants are un¬ 
able to bear the expense of trials. 

6. There shall be no more law’s delay; no more decisions that 
are travesties on justice; no more extortionate fees; no more 
extraordinary bills of expense; no more bickering; no more 
blackening of the reputation of honest witnesses by cross- 
examining attorneys; no more side-tracking of the real issues 
by appeals to the emotions of weak, tear-leaking jurors. 

7. The judge who releases a criminal because of some defect in 
the written presentation of the case, as in faulty indictments or 
complaints, should be given a vacation without pay until he is 
able to understand that facts, truth and justice are the things 
that are important, and the stupidity of prosecuting lawyers, 
lower magistrates, or clerks shall never vacate the procedure in 
court; and he should inquire into such stupidity to ascertain if 
it is not instigated by politicians who use it for the release of 
their most appreciated bedfellow, the criminal. 

To sum up: We demand that all legal procedure shall be 
conducted on the principles of SOUND JUDGMENT. If you 
are able to see the truth in this demand, then you are permitted 
to credit yourself with 


ONE HUNDRED PERCENT IN THIS STUDY. 




TWELFTH SECTION 


THE REMEDY 

E ARE presenting in this course of training, the 
conditions that hold civilization down to its de¬ 
plorable level; and it is just as much our duty 
to suggest the only possible remedy as it is to 
show the things to be remedied. Too often we 
are told by those who know the evils from which 
the nation suffers, that they cannot be helped except by burning 
and levelling to the ground the structure of the government 
itself. That this doctrine is being taught in secret and in semi¬ 
secret societies, and in various organizations, is an easily proved 
fact. It is also true that agents of the law are watching some of 
these societies. 

If a cancer is bedded in the flesh, there are three possible re¬ 
sults; one is that the patient may endure it and die from its 
effects; the second is that the patient may be destroyed, and 
the cancer will die with the killing of its victim; the third is 
that, while hope remains, the knife may remove it, and the wound 
may heal. It is conceded that civilization will perish by the law 
of disintegration of all diseased bodies, if left to itself under 
the conditions that prevail. To prevent this, the men and women 
who are preaching the cure of these evils by destroying the life 
on which they feed, seek to sweep out of existence the govern¬ 
ment itself, on the same principle that a man burns his house to 
the ground to kill the rats that infest it. Thus anarchists teach 
their followers that there can be no remedy for the ills of the na¬ 
tions except by destroying the government. But there is a rem¬ 
edy. It is the knife. The cancer must be cut out. The name 
of the remedy is the 

270 





































271 


The Remedy 

NO-PARTY MOVEMENT 

As the Courts cannot be made over into sane methods of pro¬ 
cedure while the politicians hold sway in all branches of the 
government, the relief from the barbarism of today in the uses 
of the law cannot be obtained until the cause is removed. There 
is no politician who has the slightest intention of giving the peo¬ 
ple real courts of justice; for such courts would make his pro¬ 
fession unattractive; nor is there any politician who does not 
intend to stand in the way of any material change in the meth¬ 
ods of conducting the courts, just as he stands in the way of all 
efforts for the improvement of living conditions. 

There is a very flexible majority of voters who are willing to 
change their fealty to party if there is prospect of success at the 
polls by so doing but the change is always to a new party. 
This means the continuance of the same old evils in a new dress. 
The Independent Party of 1872 was a rebuke against the cor¬ 
ruption that was unearthed in the four years preceding; but it 
did not succeed because it was a party, and no party can achieve 
real success. The Progressive Party of recent times was a re¬ 
buke against certain forms of corruption in the organization that 
is combatted; but it failed because it was a party. 

The Non-Partisans are growing fast just now; but they are 
sure to fail even if every voter in the country joined them; for 
they are in fact a party with a name that does not convey any¬ 
thing more than their desire to get rid of the bondage of the 
regular parties; and it is not possible to join the party of the 
Non-Partisan Party without belonging to some party. This 
forming of a new party as a protest is a very good idea if it 
could succeed; but the essential fault remains, which is that it 
sets up a house divided against itself, for it invites conflict and 
fight in the primaries, at the polls, and ever after. Our typical 
government is that of the great business concern that provides 
itself with employees; all elected candidates become employees 
of the nation; and it is a death blow to efficient and loyal serv¬ 
ice in any employment to divide the great bodies of employees 
into two hostile camps, and set them tooth and nail against each 
other. This dividing of a house against itself is the first and 
last great purpose of any party whether regular, irregular, or 
non-partisan. 

We are heartily in favor of the non-partisan idea; and would 


272 


Brain Tests 


advise it if we did not know that it would soon fail. If it 
should succeed, the politicians would by flattery and great suav¬ 
ity take up the work of giving it all the help that lay in their 
power; they would use it as soon as it became influential enough 
to make it worth their while to take it over as their asset. This 
would be like swapping one cancer for another cancer. The only 
thing to do that will put the politician out of business is to give 
him nothing to fasten himself to; cut the upper end of the rope 
that he is grasping; or remove the bottom from the craft that 
he sails in. This can be done in only one way, and that is by 
making it impossible for a party of any kind to exist. 

Can this be done ? 

Yes. 

We have submitted the “NO-PARTY” plan to men high up 
in the knowledge of government problems and their solution; 
and one and all agree that it is exactly the remedy that will 
bring the results needed; and that nothing else as far as they 
have the means of knowing through study and investigation will 
take its place. Before making public this remedy, we sought 
advice as to what name to give it. Some of our advisers sug¬ 
gested one name, some another, something like the following: 

THE SANE SYSTEM. 

The SOUND JUDGMENT PLAN. 

The NON-POLITICAL PLAN. 

But finally all agreed upon a name that would tell the facts 
in its own few words; and we have adopted this: 

The “NO-PARTY” MOVEMENT. 

The friends of the Non-Partisan Party will not think there is 
much difference between a Non-Partisan Party, and “NO¬ 
PARTY.”—There is merely the difference between a party and 
“NO-PARTY.”—But if the good friends of the Non-Partisan 
plan will step out of all party organization when it comes to 
nominating and voting for candidates for office, and will aid 
in the “NO-PARTY” MOVEMENT, then we can all work 
together. 

One distinction is not easy to grasp without careful thought; 
and that is the difference between organizing to bring a corrupt 
system to an end, and organizing a party with which to fight the 
politicians. The latter cannot be done. It proceeds as follows: 
After securing adherents enough to set up a campaign, it nomi- 


273 


The Kemedy 

nates its own candidates, and fights for them at the polls. This 
is the same evil method over again, and it has been tried again 
and again by launching new competing parties into the work. 

If you organize to bring a corrupt system to an end, you do 
not put candidates of a new party in the field; you seek to drive 
all parties of every kind out of the field, on the principle that a 
house should not be divided against itself. Your organization 
ends before you present any candidates either for nomination or 
election. Certain steps are necessary: 

1. You must educate in these principles all men and women 
whose minds are worth the trouble of educating. This you can 
do in your own way. You must have believers. Old heads 
whose meninges are distorted out of shape and are abnormal 
through generations of defective inheritance, will cling to the 
party of their fathers even while the ship of State were sinking, 
and you will never move them out of their fixed tracks; they 
can be swept into the new order of things just as the mouse 
was moved out of its tracks by the approach of a cavalcade of 
horses; they will only discourage you in your efforts to obtain 
friends and supporters. But there are millions of voters left 
who are in a flexible mood; all they need is to be educated in the 
new idea of “NO-PARTY.”—Once they understand its value 
they will join with you in any movement that you choose to 
undertake in the cause of civilization. 

2. Having found adherents, the next step is to increase their 
number; which may be done by asking them to find other ad¬ 
herents. Every man and woman has followers, and has influ¬ 
ence among them. Keep these good friends in mind, and meet 
with them frequently, until you know altogether of one hundred 
voters who will join the “NO-PARTY” MOVEMENT. 

3. While you are making your unit of one hundred friends of 
this movement, other units will be forming, until there are mil¬ 
lions of voters ready to push these principles to their conclusion. 

4. If one or more units will bargain with any candidate for 
Congress or the Senate, offering support in exchange for an 
agreement to work for the principles of the “NO-PARTY” 
MOVEMENT, and if this becomes universal, then we shall soon 
establish the following conditions: 

The President of the United States shall be elected for one 
term only, which shall be for six years. 


274 


Brain Tests 


Every United States Senator shall be elected for one term 
only which shall be for twelve years; each State alternating 
every six years in choosing its Senator, so that one Senator shall 
have been in office for six years when his colleague is elected. 
This plan will give each State the services of an experienced 
Senator; but preceding services will guarantee sufficient experi¬ 
ence even in the new member. 

Every Congressman shall be elected for one term only, which 
shall be for six years! Each State shall contain three or more 
Congressional Districts; but the number of Districts should be 
reduced as much as possible owing to the unwieldy size of the 
present House of Representatives. The choosing of Congress¬ 
men shall alternate so as to send to Congress a new Member 
once every three years, in order that the State shall always have 
the advantage of some experienced men in the House. 

No person shall be elected President of the United States un¬ 
less he has served not less than two consecutive years as Gov¬ 
ernor of one of the States. 

No person shall be elected a United States Senator unless he 
served not less than two consecutive years as a member of the 
the upper house of his State Legislature. 

No person shall be elected as a Congressman unless he has 
served not less than two consecutive years as a member of the 
lower house of his State Legislature. The term Congressman 
in this study refers to Members of the lower house of the national 
legislative body. 

Thus the office of President is a reward for faithful services as 
Governor of his State. More than this it makes the people ac¬ 
quainted with the man, his qualifications, his temperament, and 
his value to the country. In fact since the Civil War, practically 
every great President has been a Governor of his State; and most 
of the others who were not counted great, but who were good 
men of high qualifications, came from the Governorship. With 
no intention of preferring one above another, we give the fol¬ 
lowing list of State Governors who moved up to the Presidency: 

After the war-President, the first to occupy the White House 
was Rutherford B. Hayes, who had been Governor of Ohio. 

Samuel J. Tilden, who was defeated in the contest that fol¬ 
lowed but who received a majority of the popular votes, had been 
Governor of New York. 


275 


The Remedy 

Grover Cleveland was Governor of New York. 

William McKinley was Governor of Ohio. 

William H. Taft was the first Civil Governor of the 
Phillipines. 

Theodore Roosevelt was Governor of New York. 

Woodrow Wilson was Governor of New Jersey. 

Calvin Coolidge was Governor of Massachusetts. 

Thus it will be seen that in the last half century nearly every 
President of the United States has been a Governor. 

This is promotion; is moving up; is reward; and the Gover¬ 
norship is the natural source of the Presidency. It is rising 
from one executive position to another executive position. 

The members of the President’s Cabinet should be chosen in 
the manner that now prevails. 

The Justices of all the Federal Courts should be appointed, 
as now, by the President and confirmed by the Senate. 

In the foregoing plan we have provided for the terms of the 
two branches of the national lawmaking body; the President; 
and the judiciary. The manner of selecting the last named 
has also been stated. We now come to the task of nominating 
and electing the President; the Vice-President; the Senators; 
and the Congressmen. As our purpose is to avoid party con¬ 
flicts, in order that a house be not divided against itself, we 
must provide a method of proceeding that shall secure the re¬ 
sults most desired by the people who are honest and loyal to the 
government’s interest. The best men must be found for these 
positions. 

The National Nominating Convention:—This is a body of 
men, or men and women, as the case may be, composed as 
follows: 

The Members of the Supreme Court of the United States, 
or as many of them as are able to attend, shall form the basis 
of the Convention; with the Chief Justice, or one of the Justices, 
serving as Chairman of the Convention. The absence of one 
or more of these or others shall not invalidate their nominations. 

From the upper house, or Senate, of every State Legislature, 
nine members shall attend the meeting of the Convention; which 
shall be held in Washington, D. C., in the month of June of 
election year. This means that each State shall send nine 
members, and that they shall come only from the State Senate, 


276 


Brain Tests 


or upper legislative house; no substitutes from any other source 
being allowed. These nine members shall be chosen by 
plurality vote of the upper house of each State Legislature. 
The selection shall be made in time for the national meeting, or 
not less than one month prior to June. 

When the Convention shall convene in Washington it shall 
proceed in the following manner: Only those persons who 
have served as Governors of their States for two consecutive 
years shall be given recognition in the voting; but the two 
years mentioned need not be those of any fixed time.—On the 
first ballot, if more than eight names have been included in the 
list voted for, then among those names in excess of eight, the 
four having the least number of votes cast in their favor shall 
be eliminated; or in case of ties, all that are tied shall be elim¬ 
inated if among those receiving the least number of votes.— 
On the second ballot if more than eight names have been voted 
for, the four having the least number of votes on that ballot 
shall be eliminated if there shall be left more than eight names; 
the purpose of the Convention being to select the names of the 
eight persons who shall have received the largest number of 
votes.—When by elimination there remain less than twelve 
names, the next ballot shall determine the names of the eight 
who are to be nominated. 

The purpose of elimination is to prevent a deadlock, which 
may occur if a large number of States persisted in balloting 
when most of them had too few votes to be entitled to consider¬ 
ation. By eliminating a few at the end of each ballot, the can¬ 
didates who are among those most likely to be nominated will 
be speedily successful. 

There shall be nominated eight Governors or former 
Governors; and these shall be the candidates for the offices of 
President and Vice-President, to be determined in the manner 
to be described. 

On the usual election day in the following November all the 
people of the nation who are entitled to vote shall cast their 
ballots for these eight candidates, voting for one of the eight 
only in each ballot, which shall be signified in the usual manner. 
This gives the nation eight experienced, well known and well 
seasoned executives from whom to select one for the office of 
President. As provided by the Constitution, the candidate 


277 


The Remedy 

having the largest number of votes shall be declared elected 
President, and the one having the next largest number of votes 
shall be declared elected Vice-President. This was the intention 
of the framers of our Constitution, except that we provide the 
direct balloting and decision of the people instead of using the 
Electoral Body in the final act; although there is no objection 
to that if desired. 

It will be seen that the two highest offices in the executive 
branch of the government come from the Governors; and if 
Governors have made our best presidents in the last fifty years, 
there is not the slightest possibility of making a mistake in this 
method. It shows the folly of parties, of partisans, of politics, 
of frauds, of trickery, and of the malignant conditions that are 
associated with every general election. All this is avoided, and 
the results are the best that could be obtained in any event. 

Two candidates shall not come from the same State. 

In any subsequent election year, the States that have fur¬ 
nished the President and the Vice-President shall be omitted 
from the balloting for twenty-four years, or four consecutive 
election years, which shall be six years apart. This will pre¬ 
vent two or three States from furnishing all the Presidents for 
political expediency. 

SELECTION OF UNITED STATES SENATORS 

This body has always been the least patriotic and loyal of all 
the parts of the national business organization. It loves to talk 
when talk is the thing most in the way of public affairs. If 
any large business concern were to waste its functions in con¬ 
tinuous talking, haranguing, and cheap demagoguery such as 
prevails in the Senate, it would be put out of existence at once. 
For this reason, the people have a right to exercise close super¬ 
vision over the methods by which these men are put into office. 
The procedure that will secure this result is the following: 

In each election year there shall be gathered at the Capital 
of each State a State Nominating Convention composed of all 
the judges of the highest courts of the State, and of all the 
members of the lower house of the State Legislature, following 
the plan of the national convention. From among the State 
Senators, or members of the upper house, as many names shall 
be voted on as the Convention chooses to present on the first 
ballot. If more than sixteen names receive votes, of the excess 


278 


Brain Tests 


all shall be eliminated that have received votes, or as many as 
have received a very small number. A deadlock shall be avoided 
by such form of elimination as will prevent it.—On the second 
ballot, further elimination shall be made, and so continue until 
eight names at least remain, and not more than twelve.—The 
final ballot shall select the eight names that have received the 
largest number of votes.—If there are ties, the members of the 
judiciary shall suggest a method of selecting eight State Senators 
to be nominated for the fall elections. 

The elections shall occur at the usual time in November. 

There will be eight candidates selected from the upper house 
of the State Legislature, to be voted on for one United States 
Senator; and the candidate that receives the greatest number 
of votes at the polls throughout the State in November shall be 
declared elected for twelve years as a member of the Senate 
of the United States. 

All candidates who are elected in November shall take office 
on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in the following 
January; and this rule applies to the President, Vice-President, 
Congress, and all State offices. 

Every six years the same process shall be employed in the 
nomination and election of Senators and others. 

SELECTION OF CONGRESSMEN 

In each election year there shall be gathered at the Capital of 
each State a State Nominating Convention composed of all the 
judges of the highest courts in the State, and of all members 
of the upper house of the State Legislature, all the City Ex¬ 
ecutives, and all the County Executives. These four groups 
shall constitute the Convention to nominate candidates for Con¬ 
gress, which shall be done as follows: 

The Congressional Districts shall be re-arranged so there 
shall be approximately only one-fourth the number of Congress¬ 
men as now. When each State has made its Districts to con¬ 
form to this plan, then the Nominating Commission shall be 
divided into as many groups, except that the judges referred 
to and the State Senators shall all attend and vote at each group 
meeting; but only the Executives that live in the District shall 
join in the voting for that District. 

No person shall be a candidate for Congressman unless he 


The Remedy 279 

lias served for two consecutive years as a member of the lower 
house of the State Legislature. 

The member to be voted on in each District shall represent 
his State from the same locality; and shall be nominated by 
members of the commission in groups as stated above. If all or 
nearly all the available members are voted on, the process of 
elimination already described shall be applied until the four 
receiving the largest number of votes shall be declared the 
nominees of that District. 

At the November elections there will be four candidates to be 
voted on for Congressman from that District, and the one hav¬ 
ing the largest number of votes shall be declared elected to the 
office. 

Here we make use of the following advantages: 

1. The national President and Vice President come from State 
Governors; are tried, well known, highly experienced, and are 
in fact nearer to the people than can be the case by any other 
method. 

2. The United States Senators come from the State Senators; 
are experienced; tried; well known; and will be of a different 
stripe from those that are the product of the present diabolical 
political potpourri. 

3. The Congressmen come from the State Representatives; or 
lower house of each State Legislature; and are fully qualified 
for their new work. 

To prevent political trickery an*d chicanery, no President or 
Vice President shall come from any other source than Gover¬ 
nors ; no United States Senator shall come from any other source 
than the State Senate; and no Congressman from any other 
source than the State lower house. Thus no United States 
Senator shall spend his time, and the people’s time and money, 
manipulating the business of the country for his own greed, as 
is now the custom with these men or most of them. 

It may be claimed that the Senate is chosen by the State 
Representatives which is a humble body. But the manner of 
selecting them now is to allow a political gang of a few men to 
say what names shall go before the primaries; where the voters 
have no choice except to decide between two or three candi¬ 
dates, not one of whom is a people’s candidate. This is the 
method of the primaries where the people are supposed to do 


280 


Brain Tests 


the nominating. It is merely dust thrown in the eyes of voters. 
When the judges of the highest courts of a State unite with 
the Representatives of that State, you have a body that is 
nearer to the people than has ever been provided before; and 
you have the entire body of State Senators from which to choose 
a number of candidates; and from this number, the voters in 
the fall will elect the one that seems most qualified for the 
high office. 

In this way it is impossible to buy the office of United States 
Senator, as has been done many times to the disgrace of our in¬ 
stitutions. You also prevent a gang of politicians and control¬ 
lers of the usual rings from serving up to the people two or 
three of their own kind to be nominated at the primaries. A 
wide open field from w r hich only the men of the highest qualifi¬ 
cations and fitness are to be chosen, is given the voters for 
their basis of nomination and election of each Senator. The 
system is not only ideal, but it is perfect. 

It will do away with the most pernicious evil that was ever 
thrust upon a people, the political party, with its frauds, its 
robbery, its strangle hold on the public money, its defiance of the 
popular will, and its endless treachery. Thus it is easily seen 
that partisanship, that insidious form of inherited insanity, may 
be abandoned once the brain of the partisan is purged of its 
catarrhal mucous. 

Only by the method we present can we hope for the two great¬ 
est victories ever won in the battle for a new civilization: 

1. The reduction of all taxes more than one-half. 

2. The uninterrupted flow of prosperity that will follow such 
a plan. 

SELECTION OF GOVERNORS 

We have shown the only perfect method of electing the Presi¬ 
dent, the Vice President, the Senators, and the Congressmen of 
the United States. 

As no person can ever become a President or Vice President, 
under this “NO-PARTY” plan, unless he had been a State 
Governor, it now becomes our duty to show the way of electing 
the Governors. We still follow the plan of promotion, and by 
doing this we will accomplish some very great purposes: 

1. This plan of promotion will bring dignity, value and effi- 


281 


The Remedy 

ciency into every lower office from which a Governor may come. 

2. It will prevent chicanery and political manipulation in 
controlling all offices from the least to the greatest. 

3. It will raise our Presidents and our members of the Con¬ 
gress from the humblest ranks wherever merit and qualification 
are shown. 

4. It will start closest to the people, and really make every 
office holder a real representative of the real people; something 
that has never before been accomplished in this land or any 
other. 

5. It will put into practical use the principles that must have 
been in the minds of the framers of the Constitution. 

6. It will prove that this government is a government of the 
people, for the people, and by the people. 

7. It will prove forever after that it is no longer a 
Government: 

Of the Politicians, 

For the Politicians, and 
By the Politicians. 

In order to bring about these most desirable results we must 
provide an equally perfect plan for selecting our State Gov¬ 
ernors. Mention has been made of the two classes of rulers 
under the names of City Executives, and County Executives. 
This indicates the intention to suggest a non-political form of 
government for the cities and the counties; and it is this: In 
every city there shall be a government by commission, having 
under whatever name is desired, a ruler and a legislative body. 
The ruler is in fact the City Executive, even if called Mayor. 
This plan is based on the national government and the govern¬ 
ment of each State; with the exception that there shall not be 
a divided legislative body unless there is demand for a two- 
part body, such as exists in very large cities. This is also sug¬ 
gested for Counties, which will give them an Upper and Lower 
Legislative Body. 

So odious have become all city and county ruling bodies, and 
so burdensome have become the taxes because of their reckless 
expenditure of the public funds, under the prevailing regime of 
the politicians, that there is a strong desire for rule by com¬ 
mission. Such rule has two sources of origin, as distinguished 
from the ordinary methods of election: 


282 


Brain Tests 


1. By appointment, in which there is no nomination and elec¬ 
tion in the usual sense; but the appointment must be confirmed 
by a high official body, as where the Commissioners of the City 
of Washington are nominated by the President of the United 
States, and confirmed by the Senate of the United States. This 
method which has been in use for generations has always been 
successful, and has never known a failure, nor led to robbery 
of the public funds, nor to high taxes. 

2. The second manner in which City Commissioners are given 
office is by nomination and election for reasonably long terms. 
The fault with this plan is its political nature; for all elections 
bearing upon this method have resulted in conflicts. The only 
real result is that there is a board of three or more persons 
ruling the city in place of the stated Mayor and Council; or, 
as in large cities, the Board of Aldermen as typical of the Sen¬ 
ate, and the Board of Councilmen as typical of the lower house 
in State or national bodies such as we are familiar with. But 
it makes no difference whether there are one or two bodies; nor 
what their names may be; but we like the terms that give the 
exact meaning to the offices, which are: 

The Executive. 

The Legislative body, called Commissioners; each having an 
Upper and Lower House. 

These names and offices will apply as well to counties as to 
cities; or even to towns and boroughs. 

In this method of selecting Governors of the States, we have 
assumed that tliere are City Executives and County Executives. 
We will show later the manner in which these are to be selected, 
because they are required to be in existence in order that we 
may have Governors. The plan then proceeds as follows: 

NOMINATING THE GOVERNOR 

In June of the regular national election year, all the Execu¬ 
tives shall join with the judges of the high courts of the State 
in nominating Congressmen; and at the same time, all members 
of the legislative bodies of the cities and counties, not includ¬ 
ing any city of less than first class rank, shall meet to nominate 
candidates for Governor of the State; all such candidates to be 
selected from the Executives of the whole State, both of first 
class cities and of the counties. By the process of elimination 


The Remedy 283 

after each ballot, the names are to be reduced until more than 
eight and not more than sixteen remain; and the candidates 
receiving the largest number of votes on the final ballot shall, 
to the number of eight, be declared to be nominated for Gov¬ 
ernor. Thus there shall be at the following November election 
eight persons to be voted on for this office; and the one receiving 
the largest number of votes then shall he Governor, and the sec¬ 
ond in choice shall be Lieutenant Governor. There shall be no 
party and no conflict of partisans. 

This method will ensure having the best men placed in the 
offices of the Chief Executives of City or County, as from this 
source will come all Governors, and all Presidents of the United 
States and Vice Presidents. The line of these high offices be¬ 
gins, therefore, with the rulers of city or county; and brings 
every office in the land close to the people. No other method can 
do this. And, better still, it will put an end to intrigue, to 
treachery, to bribery, to misuse of the public funds, and to waste 
of the public time by the employees of the government. 

As the source of all corruption is in the first grade elections, 
as of city and county officials, we must purify that sewer and rid 
the land of that sewage. Here is the chance to fight the com¬ 
mon enemy. 

We find on every hand politicians polluting the courts, politi¬ 
cians polluting the honor of the nation, politicians robbing the 
public funds, and all for their own ends. Many years ago there 
were decent men who studied these conditions and who agreed 
that these wrongs must be righted, but they learned that they 
were helpless owing to the affiliation between politics and crime. 
At the polls it takes only a plurality to win an election; which 
is right; but it became an easy matter to secure this plurality 
and even a majority most of the time by affiliation with the 
slums, with vice everywhere, with thieves, and the quasi- 
organized criminal classes. 

Gangs that work havoc with the public moneys in the name 
of officers regularly elected are sometimes parts of the criminal 
world; and are always in touch with them. You are robbed by 
the bandit at the muzzle of a gun; or you are robbed by some 
of the same gang through misuse of the public moneys. There 
is an inter-locking system of crime, some against the law and 
some in its name, but all seeking the same end. 


284 


Brain Tests 


SELECTION OF THE EXECUTIVES, AND 
COMMISSIONERS 

In order to show the plan for selecting the Governors, we have 
been compelled to discuss their source, the Executives them¬ 
selves ; and the city and county legislative bodies over which they 
preside. We must now present the method of securing these 
bodies and rulers. 

Now comes the fight of the people to get rid of the raids on the 
local treasuries of city, town and township, as well as county; 
to get rid of the gangs. To throw off the yoke of bands of public 
thieves that consort with bawdy houses and the slums in the 
dark, and with decent people by day, who live by robbery and 
who rob through excessive and burdensome taxation; to rid the 
land once and for all of these pests, this vermin in the palace 
of the best government on earth. 

Politicians say that officials who are appointed are not satis¬ 
factory to the people; the fact is they are a hundred times more 
satisfactory than those who are elected. Politicians say that as 
the rulers of a city are responsible to the people they should be 
elected by the people. This gang will say anything that they 
think will hoodwink the public and the fact that they do hood¬ 
wink the public proves that their arguments carry enough dust 
to keep the people blind in their sense of right and wrong. This 
is the great bludgeon of politicians; they make the people be¬ 
lieve most anything. 

But the appointing power is elected by the people; and that is 
enough. The Presidents of the United States from time imme- 
memorial have appointed Commissioners for the District of Co¬ 
lumbia which is practically the City of Washington; these ap¬ 
pointments must be approved by the Senate, which is right; 
and thus they are the choice of the people made through in¬ 
fluences that are not tainted by politics as long as the nominat¬ 
ing power is conscientious. 

City Commissioners generally consist of three or five, one of 
there being given the title of Mayor. More than this number 
will be necessary if there are two divisions, such as the Upper 
House and Lower House of City and County Legislative Bodies. 
There are two ways of proceeding: one is by popular election, 
to which we have referred; the other by appointment in the 


285 


The Kemedy 

manner suggested below. The people should be given their 
choice in this matter; always remembering that the Mayor may 
become a State Governor, and later on President of the United 
States; for that is the line of promotion. 

Commissioners of cities should be nominated by the Governor 
of each State, just as those of the City of Washington are 
appointed by the President. The Governor should nominate 
and the State Senate confirm the nomination only. As each 
city would be represented by its leading citizens, rather than by 
its politicians, their wishes would prevail; and far better men 
would be chosen than would come from elections. Do not think 
for a moment that a Governor who is in line for the office of 
President of the United States is to make an unworthy choice. 
Every President has taken pride, if we judge by results, in 
giving Washington the best rulers, as he has taken pride in 
putting the best men on the Supreme Court bench. So every 
Governor under a regime that looks upward instead of down¬ 
ward as it does today, will take pride in putting the best and 
most efficient men on the Commissioners ’ board that is to rule 
each city. He should name one of these as Executive of the City. 

It makes no difference how large a city may be; a Commission 
can rule it. Had Philadelphia had this form of government 
years ago, it would find confronting it a debt less than half that 
which it now pays interest on; and there are financiers who say 
that no part of this debt would have been necessary. The City 
of Washington has no debt, owes no bonds, and makes more 
improvements than any city of its size. The Federal Govern¬ 
ment pays its share, but no more; some think not as much as it 
should. 

The County Commissioners should likewise be nominated by 
the Governor, and on the same plan as those of the city. The 
process is as follows: 

The Governor, with the consent of the Senate, offers sixteen 
or more names for each city and county, as sixteen or more 
candidates which in the fall election shall be voted on by the 
voters at the time of the general elections; and the candidate 
receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected 
as the Executive; and the next four or eight, as the people may 
desire, shall be declared elected over the other candidates for 
the office of Commissioners, or Legislative Body. 


286 


Brain Tests 


The politicians will say that this method does not give the 
people an opportunity of doing the nominating; but it does 
in fact give them many more chances for doing this than by the 
so-called primaries. The latter are only useful in selecting one 
gang-candidate against another gang-candidate, and the one 
selected is voted on in the fall by a political party against 
another gang-candidate selected by another political party in 
the same manner; which means that the people do not in fact 
nominate their own candidates, but those served up for them on 
the dishes of the gangs. 

The Governor, with the consent of the Senate, offers sixteen 
or more names; and as his own reputation for fairness and 
efficiency is at stake among the people he will do what is best 
for them. He is the product of closer relations to the people 
than ever before existed; and the Senate is likewise closer to 
the people than ever before, under this “NO-PARTY” plan of 
government. 

As every Executive is in line for Governor, we have arranged 
that the Governor shall not be nominated by the Executives; 
for, while they are nominating Congressmen, the legislative 
bodies of the cities of first class, and of the counties, are meet¬ 
ing to nominate the Governor. It must be kept in mind that 
we have used the term Executive as applying only to the rulers 
of cities of first class and of the counties; although the Governor 
as well as the President are so called; but legally the former is 
“The Governor,” and the latter is “The President.” As they 
in fact are Chief Executives, it preserves the line of promotion 
and keeps it better in mind to apply the name Executive legally 
to the ruler of a city or of a county. 

In municipalities less than cities of the first class, down to 
boroughs and townships, or villages, nominations and elections 
should be made only every six years in the regular election 
years; and these may be done by June town meetings for the 
purpose of nominating; and in the November elections for the 
final decision. 

Cities having a population of ten thousand or more should, 
for the purposes of this “NO-PARTY” plan, be declared cities 
of the first class. 

It has been suggested that Congressmen, while holding office 
for six years, should not all be elected at one time; and as no 


The Remedy 287 

Congressman will be allowed to be re-elected, nor any other 
officials from the President down, this rule would cause every 
new selection of Congressmen to be from people who had never 
before served in that body; although they must of necessity have 
served in State Legislatures, and be familiar with their duties. 

To remove this objection if it is one, the methods we have 
provided for nominating and electing members of Congress 
should be extended to include those to take office the January 
following the election, but also those to be due to enter Congress 
two years hence, and four years hence; thus avoiding having 
the elections more frequent than once in six years. As the 
member who is now elected in November, cannot take office for 
more than a year afterwards, and as the members we have 
provided for are to take office in two months, there will be only 
two years* delay over present conditions for the second term of 
the elected members. This might be arranged so that there shall 
be a six year term beginning every three years; but we are 
satisfied that a Congress of all new members would function 
much more efficiently than our best Congresses have ever done 
under the rule of politics. 

SELECTION OF STATE LEGISLATURES 

Every State shall be divided into Districts so that each State 
may elect the same number of upper house members of the 
legislature as now, and the same number of lower house members. 
For convenience we will use the term 4 ‘State Senators” for the 
former; and “State Representatives” for the latter. In June 
of every election year, which shall come once in every six years, 
the State Nominating Convention whose duty it is to nominate 
candidates for the United States Senate, shall after performing 
that duty, attend to that of nominating candidates for the State 
Senate, which shall be done as follows: As this Convention is 
to consist of all the judges of the higher State Courts, and of 
all the members of the lower house of the State Legislature, it 
shall receive from the members of each City and County Com¬ 
mission located in the District from which a State Senator is to 
be chosen, a list of twenty-four names acceptable to such Com¬ 
missions for the office of State Senator; and from this list the 
Nominating Convention shall choose by ballot the names of four 


288 


Brain Tests 


candidates from that District; and this method shall be nsed in 
all other Districts. Where there are two or more Districts in 
the same County, or any overlapping of Districts or Counties, 
all City or County Commissioners included may take part in 
presenting the list of names. 

Representatives, or members of the lower house of the State 
legislative body, shall be nominated by the Second State Nom¬ 
inating Convention, consisting of all the judges of the higher 
courts of the State, and all the members of the State Senate. 
A list for each Representative-District in the State, of candidates 
acceptable to all the Executives of the Cities and Counties in 
such District, to the number of twenty-four, shall be sent by 
them to the Nominating Convention, from which four candidates 
shall be nominated for each office of Representative, and from 
this number the voters at the November election shall elect the 
one having the largest number of votes. 

In these and all nomination conventions the eliminating 
process shall be adopted to prevent a deadlock; this process 
being the dropping of all candidates’ names having the least 
number of votes on each ballot. 

SUMMARY 

Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States are 
nominated by a National Nominating Convention consisting of 
the Judges of the United States Supreme Court, and nine 
Senators from each of the forty-eight States; and the eliminat¬ 
ing plan is to be used to prevent deadlocks, and to effect a result 
without delay. A surplus of candidates, all having been 
Governors, will be nominated, from which the voters at the 
November elections are to select their preferences; the candidate 
having the most votes to be the President; and the candidate 
having the next largest number of votes to be the Vice President. 

Cabinet officers, justices and all others not hereafter mentioned 
are to be appointed and approved according to present methods, 
as they are not subject to elections. 

United States Senators are to be nominated once every six 
years, for a term of twelve years, one Senator being elected in 
the manner stated. He shall be nominated by a State Nominat¬ 
ing Convention composed of all the judges of the highest State 


The Remedy 289 

Courts, and of all members of tbe lower legislative bouse of the 
State. The procedure is fully stated in the preceding pages. 
The candidates must have all been State Senators. 

Congressmen, or Representatives to the national legislative 
body, are to be nominated by a Second State Nominating Con¬ 
vention composed of all the judges of the highest State Courts, 
of all the members of the upper legislative body of the State, and 
of the Chief Executives of the Cities and Counties; adopting the 
procedure already described. The candidates must all have been 
State Representatives. 

The Governor of each State is elected in the regular election- 
year for a term of six years; and neither he nor any other 
official shall ever be re-elected, or elected to any office not in the 
line of promotion as stated in this “NO-PARTY” plan. He is 
nominated in June by all the Commissioners or members of the 
city and county legislative bodies; excepting their rulers called 
herein the Chief Executives of the Cities and the Counties. He 
must have been a Chief Executive of a City or County. 

The Chief Executives of the Cities and Counties, and their 
legislative bodies, known as Commissioners, are appointed out¬ 
right by the Governor with the consent of the State Senate, or 
else an excess number are nominated by the Governor with the 
consent of the Senate, and from this excess number the voters in 
November will elect those whom they prefer. 

State Senators are nominated by the State Nominating Con¬ 
vention, composed of all the judges of the highest State Courts, 
and of all the members of the lower legislative house of the 
State; assisted by the lower branch of each City and County 
Commission, belonging to the Senate District. 

State Representatives are nominated by the Second State 
Nominating Convention, composed of all the judges of the high¬ 
est courts in the State, and all the State Senators; assisted by 
the Chief Executives of the Cities and Counties lying in the 
Representative-District. 


SUMMARY OF PROMOTION 

Any person elected outside of the lines of promotion shall not 
have right to hold the office for which he was elected. 


290 


Brain Tests 


It shall be illegal for any person to accept a nomination or 
election unless in the line of promotion. 

No person shall hold any office not in the line of promotion. 

No person shall be re-elected to the same office; one term being 
the only term allowed. 

No deadlock in nominations shall be permitted; and to this 
end the eliminating process shall be used as described. 

FIRST LINE OF PROMOTION: President and Vice Pres¬ 
ident from State Governors.—State Governors from City or 
County Executives.—Originating from citizens who have never 
before held any office, national, State or municipal. 

SECOND LINE OF PROMOTION: United States Senators 
from State Senators.—State Senators from City or County 
Commissioners.—Originating from citizens who have never be¬ 
fore held office. 

THIRD LINE OF PROMOTION: Congressmen from State 
Representatives.—State-Representatives from persons desig¬ 
nated by lists of names presented by the Executives of Cities 
and Counties.—Originating from citizens who have never before 
held office. 

SUMMARY OF THE NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. 

All Conventions are to be held in June, once every six years. 

1. National Nominating Convention: This is composed of 
the Nine Justices of the United States Supreme Court; and 
Nine Senators from each of the State Legislatures, meaning 
nine members of the upper legislative body of each State. The 
total number of Delegates will be 441. This will compare 
favorably with the usual wild-cat national conventions, omitting 
the frantic hysterics, the throwing of hats in the air, jumping 
on chairs, and other manifestations of unbalanced minds. 
These Delegates place in nomination for the fall elections, Eight 
State Governors. In November the candidate having received 
the largest number of votes will be declared elected President 
of the United States; the candidate receiving the next largest 
number of votes will be declared the Vice President of the 
United States; both for six years, and for one term only. 

2. First State Nominating Convention: This is composed of 
all the judges of the highest courts in the State; and all members 


291 


The Remedy 

of the legislative bodies, or Commissions, of all the Counties 
and all the Cities of the first class; omitting the Executives. 
From the Executives of Cities and Counties this Convention is 
to place in nomination Eight persons as candidates for the office 
of Governor of the State. In the November election the voters 
are to choose from these candidates a State Governor, and 
Lieutenant Governor; the one receiving the largest number of 
votes being declared the Governor and the next largest number 
resulting in the election of the Lieutenant Governor; each for 
six years, and for one term only. 

3. Second State Nominating Convention: This is composed of 
all the judges of the highest courts in the State; and all members 
of the lower legislative house of the State. They are to place 
in nomination for United States Senator, the names of Eight 
State Senators; from which in the fall elections, the voters 
will elect One only as the United States Senator for the next 
twelve years; one being elected the intervening Sixth Year; 
except that the first election shall provide for two Senators, 
either by allowing one of the present incumbents to hold over, 
or electing one for six years and the other for twelve years. 
There shall be one term only. 

4. Third State Nominating Convention: This is composed of 
all the judges of the highest courts in the State; all State 
Senators; and all Executives of the Cities and Counties. From 
the members of the lower legislative house of the State, Four 
candidates are to be placed in nomination from each Con¬ 
gressional District of the State, in which nomination only those 
Executives who live in such District shall join with all the 
judges and members of the lower legislative house; and in the 
fall elections the candidate having the largest number of votes 
shall be declared elected a Member of Congress for a term of 
six years; and for one term only. 

5. Second State Nominating Convention: Second Session :— 
This is composed of all the judges of the highest courts of the 
States; and all members of the lower legislative house of the 
State. The purpose is to nominate Four candidates for the 
office of State Senator from each Senatorial District of the State. 
—The City and County Commissioners from such District, omit¬ 
ting the Executives, shall send to such Convention the names of 
twenty-four persons from whom to select the Four who are to 


292 


Brain Tests 


be nominated; the Convention having to do with this part 
only.—The Four who are thus nominated shall be voted for at 
the fall elections; and the one who receives the largest number 
of votes shall be declared elected as State Senator for the next 
six years. No person shall be re-elected. All other Districts 
shall proceed in like manner. 

6. Third State Nominating Convention: Second Session :— 
This is composed of all the judges of the highest State Courts; 
and of all State Senators who shall nominate Four persons as 
candidates for the office of State Representative, or member of 
the lower house of the State Legislature, for each Representative- 
District of the State.—The City and County Executives shall 
send to such Convention the names of twenty-four persons from 
whom to select the Four who are to be nominated; the Con¬ 
vention having to do only with the nomination;—The Four who 
are thus nominated shall be voted for at the fall elections; and 
the one who receives the largest number of votes shall be de¬ 
clared elected as the State Representative /or the next six years. 

7. Executives and Commissioners: The State Governor with 
the consent of the State Senate, in June of each election year, 
which come once in six years, shall for each first class city, and 
for each county, nominate sixteen persons as candidates for the 
legislative bodies or Commissions of such cities and counties, 
based on petitions forwarded to the Governor and to the Senate; 
and from the sixteen candidates so nominated, the voters in the 
fall elections shall select the number required to constitute the 
Commissions of the Cities and Counties respectively; the can¬ 
didate in each City and in each County who receives the largest 
number of votes at the polls to be declared the Executive; and 
the others the Commission or legislative body; containing upper 
and lower branches or one body only as the voters may desire. 
Thus if the Commission is to contain three members besides the 
Executive, only four shall be declared elected. There should be 
an odd number in the Commission, in addition to the Executive. 
This plan brings the Governor, who is a possible President of 
the United States, into the closest possible touch and association 
with the people; a condition that never exists under any political 
regime. 

8. Village, Borough and Township .—Here we come back to the 
old-fashioned Town Meetings of our forefathers, of the days of 


293 


The Kemedy 

our first great patriots. All municipalities, and all schools and 
other organizations, are to meet in June of the great election 
year, once in six years; and to nominate their candidates for the 
fall election, always from selected lists, and always avoiding 
deadlocks by the eliminating method, which drops on each new 
ballot the names of those having the least number of votes. 

Here we have the whole story simplified in perfect form, and 
we make bold to claim that this “NO-PARTY” plan will even¬ 
tually be adopted. It has the approval of hundreds of the best 
minds and best experts in national and State government prob¬ 
lems, who say for it that it is without a flaw. All good men and 
women deplore the awful conditions that have been made possible 
in this country by the wicked influence of politics, politicians, 
parties and partisans. 

1. Do not temporize with this evil,—politics; rip it out root 
and branch. End it by the most direct means. 

2. Do not organize a party; but organize men and women to 
demand of all lawmakers the adoption of the “NO-PARTY” 
plan. 

3. Bargain with all candidates for their promise to work for 
this “NO-PARTY” plan; and for a Constitutional Amendment 
that shall make such plan easily and speedily possible. A very 
brief Amendment to the Constitution, declaring that all parties 
shall be illegal, and that all officers and lawmakers shall be 
nominated and elected under a plan of promotion, is all that is 
necessary. 

4. Before bargaining with candidates secure a following large 
enough to prove to such candidates that you possess influence 
strong enough and numbers sufficient to defeat him at the polls; 
no matter whether he is running for a national or a State office. 
Go out and get these numbers as soon as possible. NOW is 
the time. 

Thousands of great men and women declare that this 
REMEDY is a perfect one; that it cannot be improved; and 
if you agree that this is the fact, then it must be true that your 
mind has grown clearer as these lessons have progressed, and 
that you are nearing the high mark of civilization. 

As soon as you see clearly the fact that this REMEDY is 
perfect, you are permitted to credit yourself with 

TWO HUNDRED PERCENT IN THIS LESSON. 


THIRTEENTH SECTION 



THE ENEMIES 

UTILIZATION COULD NOT be much lower 
than it is today unless it should revert to the 
dismal era known as the dark ages. With more 
than ninety-nine percent of humanity dishonest, 
with ninety percent indifferent to all progress, 
with seventy percent willing to break the law 
for any selfish purpose, with crime and murder steadily increas¬ 
ing, with the slums in the great cities growing larger and ex¬ 
tending their territory, with insanity increasing and certain 
inherited diseases adding a larger number of victims every year, 
with the courts and magistrates either weak and ineffective from 
lack of mental caliber, or allied with law-breakers through politi¬ 
cal ties, with taxes more than double what they should be, with 
the flow of prosperity interrupted by politics, with partisanship 
disintegrating the brain of man and woman, and with every 
true motive maligned by press and public, the hope of Civiliza¬ 
tion has but little to build on in its search after a solution for 
these troubles. 

Prior to the era that dawned about two thousand years ago, 
the most advanced peoples were as far from a real civilization 
as it was possible for them to be. The pagan rise that followed 
was wholly artificial and meaningless for it was built on igno¬ 
rance and superstition, with never a genuine discovery of the 
truth. It collapsed, as it must have done, and all mankind was 
deluged in blackness. It was only by virtue of inventions that 
gave the world a new light, although of a very weak value. The 
printing press furnished the means of some education, and the 
scattering of information and knowledge of what was going on 

294 


































The Enemies 295 

m the world of thought. Without this help we would still be 
living in the dark ages, and would be burning heretics and press¬ 
ing witches to death, and the Spanish Inquisition would be run¬ 
ning at full capacity. It all came from the fact that here and 
there a mind that was brighter than other minds was enabled 
to teach the masses; and the latter furnished some mental mate¬ 
rial to take up these teachings and make them known to their 
fellow beings. This has been called the dawn of the only civili¬ 
zation that the world has ever known. 

In the dark ages, it was the custom of men in power to extract 
from all others the last farthing of money and the last bit of 
property, so as to keep their own coffers filled, and to maintain 
their control over the underlings. 

In this age of which you are a part, and which is dark in 
almost every sense, we still have the two classes; not alone the 
ultra rich and the poor; but the vultures and their underlings. 
There are two classes of vultures: 

1. The first are the politicians. 

2. The second are their allies, the criminals, whose existence is 
made possible by the first. 

These two classes of vultures rule America; not only by the 
strangle-hold that all politicians have on the people, who are 
their underlings, but also by permitting the criminals to maintain 
a reign of terror over the underlings by their continual crimes 
and threats of crimes, so that the underlings who are the people 
are afraid to assert their own rights and set up their own power 
over the vultures. Hence civilization is polluted by the foulest 
of all blights that could befall it. Like all tyrants, the politi¬ 
cians have the people under the heel of oppression, and intend to 
keep them there. The resistance shows itself in the bubbles that 
arise from this slough, in mobs, resistance to law, and the secret 
teachings of anarchy which find more listeners today than ever 
before in our history. These are the squirmings of a people that 
writhe under the heel of the tyrant, the politician, but that have 
not sense enough to get up and destroy their oppressors. It is 
like the bulky elephant that was goaded by a cruel driver; 
the animal did not know his strength, so failed to offer resis¬ 
tance, until instinct came at last to his aid and he slew the 
tyrant. 

So may the American people be told their strength, and so may 


296 


Brain Tests 


they crush out of existence the tyrant that now oppresses them. 

Following recent elections we read that a political gang in each 
State is at work saddling new debts on the people when the 
burden is now so severe that millions of our people are giving 
up hope; hundreds of thousands of farmers are bankrupt, and 
only the profiteers see anything in sight worth living for. Then 
we read that in such and such a city the gang is spending money 
in new schemes to fill their own pockets; in another city the gang 
must be fought or there will not be a solvent man left; in another 
city the gang is at work on the treasury; in another city the gang 
is in control and will spend millions of money that was raised by 
new bonds and excessive taxation; and so on in city after city; 
gang after gang stealing the funds of the people to feather their 
own nests. 

To show how vicious and wicked are these evil influences take 
a look at Congress in these times when the tax burdens are un¬ 
bearable and you will see bill after bill introduced by men who 
have no property that can be taxed, but who have won their 
election by the tricks of demagogues, and who know that once 
the bill is advertised as benefiting a group of men, or some 
organization, there will be pressure brought to bear on Congress 
by lobbyists and the bills may be passed despite the harm they 
will do to business and to prosperity as well as to property. 

The government might cut down appropriation after approria- 
tion and thereby save millions and hundreds of millions of dol¬ 
lars, and yet be compelled to face a series of new robberies that 
have been forced through Congress because the latter is afraid of 
groups of men who seek a share in the public fund; afraid be¬ 
cause an election is coming on. 

The second enemy of Civilization is the unrestricted outlawry 
that is everywhere on the increase. Every man and woman who 
defies the law, and who willingly and wantonly breaks the law, 
is an outlaw; and therefore a traitor. 

Your wives and daughters may find themselves helpless at 
any time in the clutches of bandits who can enter any house 
in a minute. They come in numbers so as to make resistance 
useless. They imagine that you have secreted somewhere in 
the house money which your wife or daughters know the lo¬ 
cation of, and they never hesitate to torture in the most cruel 
manner the inmates of the house who refuse to give them the 


The Enemies 


297 


information they seek. If the women there know nothing of 
any hidden money, the bandits do not believe them, and start 
their tortures, burning, sorching the flesh, maiming and even 
breaking the bones of the arms and legs as they did recently 
when three women were unable to tell them of hidden money, of 
which they in fact knew nothing. This occurred in the late 
afternoon. When the husband came home he found his wife, 
his sister, and his daughter lying on the floor with arms and legs 
broken. The bandits had taken one at a time, asking where the 
money was, and receiving the reply that there was none in the 
house, they broke the upper right arm of the wife, then re¬ 
peated the question and got the same answer, which was the 
truth. Not until these helpless women had been cruelly maimed 
did the criminals leave them in their agony. 

This case is typical of the despicable spirit of the times. 

There must be no mercy shown the outlaws; they never show 
any in their career of wrongs; so they merit none from people 
who are following careers of right, who obey the laws. 

The idea of tempering justice with mercy is not an attractive 
one when dealing with pirates. In the olden days when a gang 
of pirates scuttled a merchant ship, slew all its crew, including 
passengers, and stole at will, they showed no mercy; and when 
they were captured and pleaded for mercy, had it been shown 
them, they would have repeated their crimes perhaps for many 
years to come. 

It is the mercy of our courts that is taken advantage of by 
criminals, and that causes much of the increase of crime. 

Then events should move swiftly. 

The punishment should be sure. 

In the far West in earlier days, when stealing and killing of 
innocent people was so frequent that the law was helpless, men 
organized, caught the criminal with unerring certainty and 
speed, gave him a hearing, and hung him to a tree. This action 
did the criminal class good. It was an act of mercy. Had it 
not been done there would have been many killings that might 
or might not have been punished. Putting to death the felons 
did not clear the country of their pals and followers, but it 
changed them from criminals to honest men, as there has been 
abundant evidence to prove. It was a powerful deterrent. 

If you let the law remain lax, you will have organized bands 


298 


Brain Tests 


of vigilantes, and morally their existence will be justified. To 
avoid this calamity, act in such a way that swift and sure punish¬ 
ment will save criminals from themselves, save prospective crim¬ 
inals from continuing their career of crime, and save innocent 
men and women from being slain in cold blood by heartless and 
cruel fiends. This is the true mercy. 

It was once said that one must be cruel to be kind. 

There is both truth and philosophy in this adage. 

When justice is stripped of all mercy, it becomes the most mer¬ 
ciful to many thousands of would-be criminals; and merciless 
justice in the long run becomes divine. The claim that the Cre¬ 
ator is merciful is not sustained in history, if we accept the 
story of the destruction by fire of Sodom and Gomorrah, and 
of the wholesale drowning of the human race by the flood. The 
source of the claim that the Creator is merciful is the same as 
that of these holocausts; so if the latter are true, then the time 
had arrived when to show mercy was to let down the bars for 
all time to unchecked crime and wickedness. Perhaps in our 
day a similar time has arrived when it is too late to show justice. 

If this nation wishes to follow the only course that is right, 
it must deport its habitual law-breakers. 

If they are hunted down by the general calling out of all 
men as pursuers, they will be captured. The trial need not 
be long drawn out. The OUTLAWS 7 COURT will proceed 
in the most orderly and business like manner and reach its 
decision in the same way. There will be no law’s delay, no mis¬ 
carriage of justice, no mis-trials, no farces of appeals, nothing 
of the chicanery of our usual trial courts; and above all the 
court calender will not be crowded with cases waiting to be 
tried. As we write this, we are informed that in one court 
there are eighty new cases of perpetual law-breakers, brought 
in the last two days, and each one has asked for a jury trial, 
intending to require eighty trials, in each of which lawyers paid 
to obstruct the course of justice by bickerings, objections, excep¬ 
tions and delays, will spin out the hearing until not more than 
ten could be heard in the season, even if the docket were not al¬ 
ready jammed by previous cases that are awaiting trial. This 
is an example of American court methods, and is about as hu¬ 
miliating a condition as could be found in any country where 
civilization had not yet secured a foothold. 


The Enemies 


299 


To correct these evils, we can proceed in an orderly way ere 
the mobs take up the cudgel and tear down our institutions. 
The final GREAT ENEMY OP CIVILIZATION is this: 

The Political Press, including 

The Yellow, or Sensational Press. 

As these are the outgrowth of politics, both of them, they 
cannot be exterminated until we put an end to the career of 
the politician. 

Nearly all weekly papers, and those published oftener, but 
not daily, are decent and may become a help to Civilization if 
encouraged. The “NO-PARTY” Movement is already inter¬ 
esting men and women of wealth in the idea of establishing in 
every County and in many Cities, newspapers that are devoted 
to this plan of rescuing the country from the slavery of the 
politician and the nefarious influence of the political and yel¬ 
low press. 

In the Cities there are two kinds of newspapers: 

The decent. 

The yellow, including the political. 

The decent papers print no actually sensational news as 
such, but depend on furnishing the public with the facts as near 
the truth as possible. They themselves have several classes: 

1. Some are strictly decent, or one hundred percent decent, 
as may be seen from the fact that they do not go into hysteria 
over the trickery of parties when playing politics. And they 
can exist and declare dividends without being compelled to take 
political advertisements, or yield political support to one party 
or another for money. The best of this class are always non¬ 
partisan; that is not held in bondage by fealty to any party. 

2. Some decent papers have an undercurrent of the itching 
palm feeling in which the longing for increased dividends is 
stimulated by the temptation to print partisan news in a parti¬ 
san spirit. 

3. Other decent papers cater directly to party patronage and 
political advertising; and to repay this financial help they give 
continual digs against all efforts to get rid of the politicians. 
You will know them. 

Political newspapers and yellow sheets are never safe guides 
and instructors of the people. They in the first place teach 
hysteria. 


300 


Brain Tests 


It was the yellow press of New York that unbalanced the mind 
of the assassin of Garfield, and led to his death. 

It was the yellow press of New York that unbalanced the mind 
of the assassin of McKinley, and led to his death. 

These evil sheets, like the foul emanations of diseased human 
vultures, carry on their work today in the same way, and in 
defiance of the demands of a true civilization. 

1. They are run exclusively for money making purposes. 
They have a right to be so run as long as they are honest. 

2. They live by their advertising departments and not by 
their circulation. They have a right to so live as long as they 
are not too far tempted to foster wrongs for the sake of earning 
dividends. 

3. They yield to temptations of many kinds in order to earn 
more advertising money. They have a right to yield to tempta¬ 
tions as long as such yielding does not wrong the people. 

4. They are tempted to accept much advertising matter that 
is positively degrading on the one hand, and positively harmful 
to the people on the other hand. In yielding to this tempta¬ 
tion they always go to the limit of the criminal law. 

5. They obtain their largest income from merchants in the 
form of legitimate advertising; and herein they are models of 
decency. If they could be induced to accept no advertising un¬ 
der temptations of other kinds, they could earn sufficient divi¬ 
dends to keep alive. 

6. But as they are conducted solely in the interest of their 
own pocketbooks, they must go on earning excessive dividends, 
and must yield to temptation outside the realm of decency. 
With hardly a singe exception the newspapers not only earn 
large dividends but accumulate vast fortunes for themselves and 
for their owners, showing that they, like all hunters after wealth, 
are never satisfied with enough, but are always grasping the air 
for more and more and more. 

7. Their legitimate advertising as we have said comes from 
merchants and business concerns for the most part; but this 
could not be secured unless the papers had a genuine circula¬ 
tion of large size, so that the merchants would be assured of 
results from their expenditures. This is within the rights of 
papers so long as their methods of maintaining a large circula¬ 
tion are honest. 


The Enemies 


301 


8. When the yellow sheets of New York came into existence, 
they did so with the intention of building up almost over night 
a tremendous circulation, the figures of which they could show 
to merchants and demand a share of their advertising. The yel¬ 
low methods were summed up in scare-heads or giant type head¬ 
lines on the top of the first page, followed by sensational read¬ 
ing matter, hardly a word of which was true. But as the people 
have always been readers of fiction, they cared nothing for the 
truth of an article so that it was salacious. The ultimate success 
of this degrading method tempted almost every paper in the 
land to copy as much as it dared of the plan. 

9. At first the degrading method, while building up a large 
circulation, did not convince the merchants that the columns of 
such papers were effective mediums for their business, until the 
owners of the yellow press began a system of underground black¬ 
mail; which consisted in sneaking reporters prying into the 
foibles and frailties of the families and friends of the merchants, 
and sending out hints that advertisers were immune from the 
attacks of the yellow papers. Then the revenue began to flow 
in, and is so maintained today by all yellow newspapers in every 
city in America. The result is that owners of these sheets have 
become millionaires and multi-millionaires, piling up fortunes 
for which they can have no use. 

10. Other newspapers emulate the notable and notorious ex¬ 
ample of the yellow press; but go only part of the way in under¬ 
ground blackmail. The influence is so bad however that most of 
the news of the day is distorted to reach the sensational hue, 
and thus sell papers so that the circulation is comfortably large. 
That these methods are not necessary at all times is shown by 
the general cleanness of the great weekly publications outside of 
New York City, and an occasional paper in that city. 

11. Nearly all papers that receive princely fortunes for ad¬ 
vertising space, are compelled to publish fake reading notices that 
deceive the public and help the advertising. Lines of business 
that are openly not combined have syndicate organizations 
formed for the ostensible purpose of extending the public in¬ 
terest in their goods; and these publicity syndicates are able to 
dictate to newspapers certain ideas that must be made public 
to further such interests. Thus some years ago every now and 
then a reading paragraph would go through the papers to the 


302 


Brain Tests 


effect that a woman had lived to be 113 years old, and said that 
she ascribed her extreme age to the daily use of whiskey. This 
was paid for by the syndicate, or else was forced on the papers 
on account of the sums paid them for that class of advertising. 

12. It has been know for a long time in such a city as New 
York that advertisements of merchants in the yellow papers do 
not bring in returns; and that the only advantage that comes 
from using the papers is from their use of the legitimate press; 
by which is meant those newspapers that do not display scare- 
heads and that do not give utterance to violent sensations in 
their columns. Any person of even ordinary intelligence can 
discern the difference between a legitimate paper and one that 
is now known by the term yellow. The two classes are widely 
apart. The reason why merchants who advertise in the yellow 
papers do not get returns in business is that the circulation of 
that class of papers is almost wholly among the semi-insane 
population. Some merchants and some people of good sense 
subscribe for these papers or buy them, but never read them ex¬ 
cept to glance through them. They are read exclusively by the 
class that has been referred to as semi-insane. 

13. Alienists say that all persons are more or less insane, the 
difference being one of degree only. This may be true under 
their definition of the word; but the law holds as responsible for 
crime all those who are in fact semi-insane; otherwise there 
would be no law at all. We have shown that ancestors afflicted 
with venereal diseases will transmit insanity to one generation, 
and possibly to two or more generations; that the latter will 
transmit lesser forms of mental weakness to their offspring; and 
the offspring will have children who are weak-minded, but sane 
enough to be held responsible for their crimes. It is this class 
that read the yellow papers, and the editors know it and cater 
to them and write for them and collect news for them. This 
is the reason why the merchants who advertise in that class of 
papers never get any returns for the money so spent; yet they 
are afraid to stop patronizing them. 

14. Leaving the yellow papers to themselves, we will look at 
those that are really legitimate as far as their news matter is con¬ 
cerned; but it is only their ordinary news matter. When they 
drop into polities they have two axes to grind. First, they are 
being paid in all election campaigns large sums of money for 


The Enemies 


303 


notices of the remarkable character and ability of candidates 
of all parties and of all shades and ranks of office; and of the 
fixed and unalterable promises made by each candidate to wipe 
out the wrongs of the nation. Then it is that the wrongs are 
given ventilation. Then it is that no one suggests any remedy 
for those wrongs except the election of the men who make all 
kinds of promises that they can invent. And as we all know, 
the character, ability and promise of the successful candidates 
melt away like snow in July; and those of the losing candidates 
are buried with them. But the papers cannot afford to permit 
the politician to disappear; he and his ilk are worth many thou¬ 
sands of dollars to each paper in each campaign. Even the 
country weeklies receive thousands of dollars a year from politi¬ 
cal advertising. Here we have a very ominous barrier to the 
wiping out of wrongs. Self-interests are so strong that they will 
put up the same kind of a fight that a stalled lion makes at the 
entrance to his jungle. Here we see the paramount reason why 
you cannot make much headway against the tyranny of the 
most wicked oppressor that ever existed, the American politician. 

There is however, a remedy. 

15. While the yellow papers appeal and cater to the semi- 
insane class only; the political news of the legitimate press 
caters to another branch of the semi-insane class; one stratum 
higher up the scale. It is their following. In localities where 
there is no circulation of the yellow press the legitimate papers 
set aside a portion of their political news for feeding the defec¬ 
tive intellects. There are men who for years have voted for 
their party, and will do so until they die; and there are other 
men who cling to their party of the opposition and will do so 
as long as they live and breathe and can get to the polls. These 
men and their families who are of the same fixedness of belief, 
are semi-insane; for no wholly sane person will adhere always 
to the same groove. Then there are the great mass of voters 
who vote as they think, and who think as they see the needs of 
the nation. There are ten millions of voters in this country who 
are capable of changing their votes according to their con¬ 
sciences; the others are fixed and mulish. It is to this latter 
class that all partisan political news is addressed. The editors 
do not believe the thing they preach, at least not half the time. 
It is to this class of semi-defectives that all political speakers 


304 


Brain Tests 


and writers address their open views; they know it is easy to 
sway them as they please. 

16. As the political papers live largely by elections and by 
their alliance with politicians, and as politicians live on the 
people and the public funds, this‘combination must be broken; 
and the only way to break it is by establishing in each county a 
County Press, either weekly or daily; or else adopting one that 
is already established. If the plan of adoption is used, it must 
be with the understanding that such Press shall live up to and 
preach the doctrines set forth in this study. An organization of 
women to begin with, to which men are to be added as they 
become convinced that the women mean business and are to 
succeed, will make it clear to the proprietors of established pa¬ 
pers that it will pay them to ally themselves with the new move¬ 
ment to win back the freedom of the nation from its tyrant. 

Such a paper could succeed easily. 

It would find many new advertising patrons, and its circula¬ 
tion would go into channels not now entered. It should be con¬ 
ducted on lines of the highest integrity, and never for selfish 
ends only. 

All Followers of the “NO-PARTY” Movement who find that 
the great dailies of the cities are fair and honest in their news, 
can safely patronize them and those who advertise in them. By 
refusing to buy the yellow papers and refusing to deal with those 
who advertise in them, they could quickly be made to see a 
“great light.” 

In this Thirteenth Section of this study we have presented the 
history of those several enemies that stand today, and will ever 
stand in the pathway of a better Civilization. 

If at this stage of our work your brain is clear enough to see 
the truth set forth in this Section, and to realize that these 
enemies should be cast out of the vitals of our national life, 
then you will be permitted to credit yourself with 


TWO HUNDRED PERCENT IN THIS STUDY. 




FOURTEENTH SECTION 



CIVILIZATION 

TRIUMPHANT 

jJVERTWHERB we find men, and women, scat¬ 
tered it is true, and widely apart, but neverthe¬ 
less in all lands and in all parts of our own 
land, who are hoping for better conditions than 
those we have described in the preceding Sec¬ 
tion. Nature never produced a race that was 
wholly bad or wholly wrong. It has been claimed from analogy 
that, even among the cave dwellers, and the lowest tribes of pre¬ 
historic humanity, there was here and there a man who was 
gentle and a woman who was pure-hearted and sympathetic. 
It does not seem possible, but it may have been true. It is 
known that today among the most savage peoples, now and then 
a gentle soul is found. 

Just as the gentlest of our men and women in the best nations 
of earth are turned into fiends on provocation sufficient to in¬ 
flame the meninges of the brain into uncontrollable passion, so 
the reverse may be true in a time when most everybody was 
barbaric and fierce. It is recalled that while pirates of more 
than a century ago were, without exception, bloodthirsty and 
cruel, one of them who was the most fiendish in his crimes, had 
a wife who was a real angel in her disposition and character. 

In a nest of criminals of the most brutal kind, there was 
recently found a woman who was noted for her gentleness and 
sweetness of manner; she remained loyal to her marriage vows 
and so clung to her outlaw husband, and even protected him 
when accused. But she never changed from her gentle disposi¬ 
tion even to the hour of her death by violence. The autopsy 

305 
















306 


Brain Tests 


showed that the meninges of her brain were unusually clean, 
normal and healthy. As autopsies of criminals always show 
abnormal and diseased meninges, it is certain that this woman’s 
character was controlled by the physical clearness of these 
membranes. 

Exceptional eases give promise of a better future. 

The question arises, what relation has the physical‘health of 
the brain to the intelligence of the brain? The answer can 
easily be given by any alienist, or expert in mental disorders, 
that the brain itself, being physical in its tissue, is always in 
harmony with the physical condition of the individual. More 
than two thousand years ago when the best philosophers the 
world has known lived and taught, it was a common saying 
that “A sound mind required a sound body .’’ Since then we 
have heard and often read of the modern saying that “If you 
wish the mind normal you must keep the health normal.”—The 
old Latins had a similar motto: “Mens sana in corpore sana 
This means either a sane mind in a sane body, or a healthy 
mind in a healthy body. Our word sane comes from their word 
sana; as does our word sanitary. The unhealthy mind is not 
sane in any event. 

If the brain is abnormal so that its sanity is affected, the 
trouble nine times in ten is located in the meninges that supply 
the brain with the processes of thought. It has been amply 
proved that any thing that disturbs the meninges will produce 
erratic thought, erratic judgment, and erractic action. The 
most common illustrations of such disturbance are those that 
follow the use of alcohol, or the inflammation attending typhoid 
or other delirium, or the abnormal condition following poison¬ 
ing from intestinal indigestion. In all these cases temporary 
insanity may result; and in the toxic injury to the meninges 
from intestinal stagnation, or from a grossly unfit diet poisoning 
the blood there has arisen a class of cases of temporary in¬ 
sanity and criminal tendencies, influenced solely from the 
meninges, or linings of the brain; all of which have been cured 
by producing a wholly normal and healthy condition. 

Several of the most learned and experienced alienists make 
this statement: “If we can establish a perfectly normal and 
healthy condition of the meninges of the brain, we can establish 
a perfectly clear mind free from every form of illusion and 


Civilization Triumphant 307 

erratic thinking.”—This book proves that it is possible to estab¬ 
lish this perfectly normal and healthy condition. 

The Ralston Health Club says: '‘The mind is clear in pro¬ 
portion as the meninges are clean, wholesome, and free from 
disease or poisonous influences of impure blood due to impure 
diet; and if we can remove these harmful conditions we will 
produce a perfectly normal mind, a perfectly sound judgment, 
and ONE HUNDRED PERCENT in the TESTS of Civiliza¬ 
tion.” 

Our position is this: The mental health of the nation is ab¬ 
normal, distorted and diseased; its thought processes are erratic, 
criminal, and twisted by illusions, semi-insane beliefs and selfish 
indifference, and at their best lack clearness of appraisement of 
life’s real meaning. 

This is the definition of a low state of civilization. No one 
doubts the existence of this low state, and that there must be 
causes that are curable. 

There is but one remedy. 

In proportion as these defects are lessened or removed, there 
comes in their stead the needed clearness of appraisement of 
life’s real meaning; and this invites the SOUND JUDGMENT 
that is a synonym of a high state of civilization. Normal and 
clear thinking weaves new and perfect tissue in the meninges 
of the brain; and it is this normal thinking that we invite. 


NOW FOR THE TESTS 

The goal to be reached is the CLEAR MENTAL QUALITY of a 
SOUND JUDGMENT. 

The FIRST READING TESTS are made by carefully and 
slowly reading every word of the book through to the end; then 
reviewing the TEST Sections, the first of which is the Fifth 
Section of the book, and the theme is The Temple of Life. At 
the end of each theme you will find the percentage that is Avon 
when you see clearly and with a sound judgment the truth 
embodied in such theme. These percentages are presented here 
for the purpose of giving their value; but you must follow them 
as they are given after each theme, in order to understand what 
they convey. 


308 


Brain Tests 


TABLE OF PERCENTAGES 
Decision versus Indifference. 

Indifference is the ZERO mind.—Decision is the KEY to a 
new Civilization. 


Percentages won by the TESTS: TWENTY THEMES OF 
HUMAN ACTIVITIES: 

1. Temple of Life: 30 percent. 


2. Experiences: 

30 

3. Causation: 

100 

4. Insanity and Crime: 

40 

5. Punishment: 

40 

6. Deterrents: 

60 

7. Outlaws: 

30 

8. Undesirables: 

40 

9. Rounding Up Cities: 

40 

10. Mercy for the Unborn: 

50 

11. Order: 

30 

12. Stability of Prosperity: 

200 

13. Re-elections: 

200 

14. Parties: 

200 

15. Partisans: 

200 

16. Political Judges: 

100 

17. The Courts: 

110 

18. Jury Trials: 

100 

19. The “NO-PARTY” Movement: 

200 

20. Enemies of Civilization: 

200 


Each percentage represents 100 percent in its own theme. 
Thus in the first study, Temple of Life, if your mind is clear 
enough to possess the quality of sound judgment, and in perfect 
degree, you will recognize the truth in this theme, and will be 
credited with 30 percent, which is perfect, as far as this one 
study goes. If you see only with half clearness, then give your¬ 
self a marking of 15 percent. If with a third clearness, then 
10 percent. As fifteen is 50 percent of perfect, or 30, your 
marking is to be figured up later, but not now, as 50. In order 




Civilization Triumphant 309 

to obtain the ultimate percentage, we must use now only the 
ratings placed against these themes. 

Follow through them all; allow yourself what your good sense 
tells you is right; and add the whole together; then divide by 
20 for the actual final percentage of the first reading. 

Suppose in the list of the twenty themes, your percentages 
are somewhat like these: 20, 10, 10, 40, 30, 30, 30, 40, 40, 50, 
30, 100, 100, 100, 100, 20, 90, 40, 200, 200; with a total of 1280. 
These are to be divided by the number of themes, twenty, and 
the result is 64. This means that your place in the Scale of 
Civilization is 64; or that percentage; and that you fall short 
of a perfect rank by 36 percent. 

Any person, as has been proved by a persistent purpose of 
continuing the study, who has once gone through all the themes, 
will eventually come into the full percentages; and will then 
occupy the highest rank in the gift of Nature and God. 


“CAN’ST THOU MINISTER TO A MIND DISEASED?” 

What is more horrible than a mind diseased? 

A brain diseased is physically out of order; is physically in 
a state of ill health; but what kind of ill health is that which 
brings disease to the mind? Yet it is a fact attested by all 
experts that 999 persons out of every 1000 are more or less lack¬ 
ing in perfect mental health. 

The final goal of this study is twofold: 

1. To produce a mind that is physically sound, directing a 
brain that is physically sound, in a body that is physically 
sound; all combining to perfect the body which is the Temple 
of Life. 

2. To produce a MIND that is perfectly normal, of crystal 
clearness, recognizing the truth everywhere, and exercising a 
SOUND JUDGMENT in directing the affairs of life; which, 
when it shall attain one hundred percent of power, will lift 
civilization to the high level intended by God and Nature. 

MENTAL DISEASE IS COMPLETELY CURED. 

By this process, and in this way only, it is possible to minister 
to a mind diseased. We mention at this place some of the 
symptoms of such disease: 



310 


Brain Tests 


1. FEAR.—This is generally a feebly defined and subtle 
presence that haunts the thoughts when a person is alone. Often 
it takes the shape of a flickering imagination that “something 
is about to happen that will be unpleasant or ill boding.” Such 
a feeling comes and goes in a brief wave. This is a form of 
mental disease, and is completely cured by this study. 

2. PREMONITION.—This phase of ill health of the mind 
has nothing to do with the brain. Like fear it comes often 
when a person is alone. Something seems to be trying to say 
that there is evil ahead, or an enemy is seeking to do harm, 
or ill fortune is to follow, or sickness or death will bring sorrow 
unexpectedly. Many a woman has said, “I feel as if there is 
some bad news coming, or something is about to happen.”— 
This condition denotes mental disease, and is wholly cured by 
the system presented in this book. 

3. SUPERSTITION.—This is a cowardly evasion of many 
acts and duties that portend bad luck; and is undoubtedly in¬ 
herited from generations enough to span the history of the 
human race from the present time back to the beginning of life 
on earth; an era when every jungle hid enemies, and every 
nightfall brought dangers to all the inhabitants on earth. There 
are in our times no less than three hundred signs and omens 
that bring bad luck unless they are evaded. Sailors leaving 
port on Friday are overwhelmed with forebodings of shipwreck; 
the number 13 stalls many a strong man and woman; walking 
under a ladder is sure to bring disaster; and so on through a 
long category; and the main fact is that most people are swayed 
and controlled by this form of inherited disease of the mind. 
We cure it permanently in this work, and by the system taught 
herein. 

4. WORRY.—This mental disease eats away the vitality of 
the body and its functions, and even brings on brain weakness. 
It is the most prolific cause of diabetes, of dyspepsia, of de¬ 
fective heart action, or anemia, and of defective lungs. More 
than half of the cases of nervous prostration can be traced to 
worry. It is something that no doctor can cure; and an honest 
doctor will not try to hold out hope. A typical case was that 
of a young woman who was jilted by her lover just prior to 
the date of the wedding; and who assumed a light and happy 
mood in order to hide the sorrow that was slowly eating out her 


Civilization Triumphant 311 

life. The best specialists in the world could do nothing for 
her; and slowly her days waned until death released her. There 
are countless forms of worry, and endless causes, but a perfectly 
normal mind is able to combat them. In fact a normal mind 
is never swayed by worry. This training system shows the way 
to completely cure this trouble; for it disappears as soon as the 
physical health of the mind is established and the mental health 
is obtained by the tests herein. 

5. DELUSIONS.—Here we approach the border land to a 
very serious condition. The sooner a cure is effected by this 
study and practice the better it will be for the safety of the 
individual and those associated with him. 

6. OBSESSIONS.—This is even a more threatening condition 
than the delusions referred to above. In an obsession a fixed 
idea that has no foundation in fact, haunts the mind, often by 
day and during much of the night. One common form of this 
mental disease is what is termed jealousy. Alienists regard 
jealousy, whether well founded or not, as a phase of affirmative 
insanity, for the reason that it haunts the mind, and builds it¬ 
self on the most meagre evidence, twists meaningless incidents 
into mountains of belief, and suffers severely from the wearing 
presence of the obsession. But there are endless other kinds of 
this disease of the mind. It soon runs into danger, both for the 
sufferer and for others. It has been estimated by doctors that 
more than ninety percent of persons above the age of fourteen 
up to the limit of life are mentally diseased with some kind of 
obsession, slight or strong.—A CURE IS IMPERATIVE.— 
No greater mistake could be made than to allow any obsession 
to remain to run its course. The Cure is obtained in every case 
by the method presented in this book; physical health of the 
brain, physical health of the mind, and mental health of the 
mind, as fully explained in this study. 

OBSESSIONS, while always a mild form of insanity in their 
simple degrees, lead to a large proportion of asylum cases when 
they secure too great a control over the mind. But when not 
so far advanced as to come under the definition of insanity, they 
are referred to by alienists, or experts in mental defects, as mere 
obsessions. The medical definition of this erratic condition in¬ 
volves that of mild, and usually harmless, imaginations. As 
they are unreal in whole or in part, they result in loss of mental 


312 


Brain Tests 


usefulness and in fact cf physical usefulness in one or more de¬ 
partments of life. They twist all thought out of normal shape, 
insofar as they affect it. 

AN ALIENIST is an expert in brain troubles involving the 
sanity of the individual; and these experts sometimes point the 
way to a cure where the malady arises in the brain itself; but 
they have never reached the causes of mental defects that arise 
in the mind itself. Of late they have begun to investigate be¬ 
yond the brain, into the power that directs and controls that 
organ. One of the greatest alienists living, collaborating with 
a number of the best experts, set down the following facts as 
having the greatest importance today in the work of helping 
men and women free themselves from the trend of mental de¬ 
fects. We state their conclusions in our own words: 

AN OBSESSION is not only the worst enemy of a human be¬ 
ing, in that it is always dangerous to mind and body; but it is 
the most serious adversary of civilization, as there can never be 
a high state of civilization where the vast majority of the people 
allow themselves to be swept on to a wrong condition of existence 
by the undermining influence of this disease; yet 999 out of 
every 1000 persons are in some degree following obsessions, 
and most of them unnecessarily. 

The sufferers of almost any mania show to the alienist the 
erratic operations of thought; as the eyes give some very clear 
evidence. These victims are convinced by any kind of argu¬ 
ment, and it is to them that the demagogues in the United States 
Senate and in Congress appeal for a fixed following. The service 
of oratory is to slam home a convincing argument in terms and 
by methods that put a stop at once to the analytical powers of 
their readers and listeners. Political newspapers and politicians 
win out by such methods and always on such minds. 

One alienist made the statement that he could discern in the 
eyes of a man or woman the form of mental disease that at¬ 
tended an obsession. He said that as the mind was shown to 
be in health, so did the individual believe in swift and sure 
execution of the laws for the suppression of murder; while the 
diseased mind always leaned to the opposite belief. From the 
latter class come the enemies of justice to the public, and the 
friends of the criminal under the imagining of this obsession. 

We will quote here the exact words of an alienist of wide 


Civilization Triumphant 313 

reputation: “The most interesting study in our work is the 
mind of the political partisan. The belief in party is the most 
common of all obsessions; has the least reason for existence; 
lessens the value of the man in all his life endeavors fully one- 
half, and probably more; embitters his best friends; makes him 
an unlovable creature; narrows his view of everything; and 
brings him no reward of any kind; a sacrifice without reason 
or recompense.” 

Another alienist says: “In this country there are many 
millions of people who would be 500 percent better off if they 
could rid their minds of the obsession of partisanship, clearly 
a mental disease. Out of these millions there come annually to 
asylums thousands who would not be there if the land was ruled 
normally and in the interests of the people, which means with¬ 
out politics.” 

If you talk or communicate with the leading alienists of the 
country or of the world, you will find no variance of opinion 
on this one subject: that the political partisan is afflicted with 
that form of mental disease known as an obsession. The clear 
thinking mind would see the truth; the obsessed mind sees only 
the vision offered to his brain by political demagogues, political 
so-called “statesmen,” and political newspapers whose plethoric 
dividends are derived from their party-affiliations, or their ver¬ 
sions of sensational political wrangles, which they feed to their 
obsessed readers in order to maintain a circulation that will 
command liberal advertising. 

If your mind is clear-thinking, then there is an end to all 
obsessions. 

This means to you success in a new form, happiness in new 
attire, leadership among your fellow beings, the self-satisfaction 
of recognizing the truth by your own contact with it, freedom 
from the most debased slavery that the human mind ever bowed 
under, and the ability to think and to act for yourself without 
fear of failure in every great step in life. 

The ONE GREAT CAUSE of our national evils and of the 
degraded state of civilization is partisanship; and this we attack 
as the climacteric work of this system of mental education. The 
only remedy is to be found in the “No-Party Movement,” which 
you will gladly join if you have at heart the bettering of human 
conditions. 


PLATFORM 
OF THE 

“NO-PARTY” MOVEMENT 



E, CITIZENS AND VOTERS of the United 
States, hereby declare and set forth the follow¬ 
ing principles on which we base this movement 
and we pledge ourselves to abide by these princi¬ 
ples and to work for them until they are adopted 
and have become a part of the law of the land. 
We positively assert our firmness of purpose not to yield our¬ 
selves to the influences of politicians, political speakers, political 
papers, or any agencies or emissaries of the same; but will re¬ 
main steadfast in our determination to escape all such mental 
bondage, and will be found true and loyal at all times and 
under all circumstances, to the * * 1 2 3 NO-PARTY’’ MOVEMENT. 

FIRST.—No matter what others may say, or what species of 
pretended proof they may present, there is not the slightest 
doubt: 

1. That crime in all its hideous forms, and criminals of all 
kinds from petty thieves, and professional lawbreakers to ban¬ 
dits and murderers, are so closely allied with the politics of the 
nation that the great law-abiding majority of the people are 
without protection as long as political power retains its mastery 
over our national life. 

2. That the weakness of the courts, their continued injustice 
and leniency in not safeguarding the rights of the people, and 
their inadequacy as shown in their technical decisions, cannot 
be remedied as long as the law-making bodies are controlled by 
politicians; nor can these courts and their procedure be re¬ 
formed as long as political rule exists. 

3. That an elected political judiciary, if not always corrupt, 
is generally interwoven into the universal corruption of politics. 

314 






“No-Party” Movement 


315 


4. That the ever increasing and uncontrollable criminal slums 
of the cities are becoming a serious menace to civilization, and 
cannot be reduced as long as politicians protect them and are 
allied with them; nor will politicians permit the enactment of 
laws to solve this problem. 

5. That the unceasing efforts of the elected servants of the 
people to secure their own re-election, and of their party to re¬ 
new itself, results in continual betrayal of the interests of the 
nation, in countless forms of bribery which feeds ultimately on 
the public funds and piles up the burdens of taxation until they 
become well nigh unbearable. 

6. That politicians have a strangle-hold on the vitals of the 
nation, which they maintain by false promises, by pretences of 
purity as a veneer over corruption, by an interlocking associa¬ 
tion with all the sources of evil, including those of the yellow 
press and other defectives, which represent the lowest dregs of 
civilization; and that they employ this gigantic combination to 
break the will of people. 

SECOND.—We demand that the length of term of every of¬ 
fice shall be extended, and that no elected servant of the people 
shall be re-elected; but that unfaithful officials shall be subject 
to recall by prompt process. 

THIRD.—We demand that there shall be no political parties 
engaged in strife and conflict; but that the plan that must have 
been in the minds of the framers of the Constitution shall be 
adopted, by which the voters shall cast their ballots for groups 
of highly qualified and proved candidates of previous public 
experience with the choice falling to the candidates having the 
highest number of votes; thus abolishing forever the evils of 
parties and of polities. 

FOURTH.—We demand that a perfected system of promo¬ 
tion shall be adopted, whereby the President and Vice President 
of the nation shall be elected by ballot from among the most 
efficient Governors of the States, after being duly selected and 
nominated by a national convention free from all strife and 
partisanship, and having at heart only the genuine interests 
of the people; that every United States Senator shall come from 
a State Senate; every Congressman from a State Assembly or 
lower legislative house; every State Senator from City or County 
Executives; every State Representative or Assemblyman from 


310 


Brain Tests 


City or County Commissioners; and so on through the whole 
fabric of national life; ensuring the best service in all positions 
from the least to the greatest, and bringing all elections closest 
to the source of self-government, the people themselves. 

FIFTH.—We demand that all courts of justice shall be wholly 
separated from all forms of dependence on special favors; that 
there shall be an end to the law’s delay; that crowded dockets 
shall be avoided; that trials shall not be distorted into trav¬ 
esties on justice; that all technicalities shall be removed from 
judicial procedure and decisions; that no defect in court papers 
or preliminary actions shall be allowed to defeat the ends of 
justice or cause delay; that any defects shall be amended in 
the trial courts and facts alone shall control the procedure 
whether criminal or civil; that all law shall be based on common 
sense combined with justice; that the principles of sound busi¬ 
ness methods shall be applied to all trials in securing prompt 
and accurate decisions; and that the present extortionate cost 
of legal services shall be wholly eliminated so that any person, 
whether rich or poor, shall have equal access to justice in our 
courts. 

SIXTH.—Since it is true that these changes must be brought 
about by legislation, whether relating to the courts, the laws, 
or the proposed methods of election and the tenure of office; and 
that all legislation is controlled by politicians who do not intend 
to legislate themselves out of their corrupt political practices 
and means of livelihood; we demand that candidates shall de¬ 
clare themselves in favor of these changes, and shall pledge 
themselves to support this Platform of the “NO-PARTY” 
MOVEMENT; and we will support at the polls no candidates 
who do not make such declaration and pledge. 

(Signed). 


It is urged that every man and woman in this nation who is 
entitled to vote, shall be aligned on one side or the other of this 
Movement; and shall be known either as its friend or its foe; and 
to this end every supporter of this Platform is charged with the 
duty of listing such voters in the manner described in the fol¬ 
lowing pages. 

The time is ripe for action and for the speedy accomplishment 
of this great purpose. 




WHAT IS YOUR LIFE? 



HAT HAVE YOU DONE IN THE WORLD? 
Are you content to be nothing? 

When the hour comes, as come it will, that is 
to be your last on earth, and the retrospect of 
a useless existence rises before you as you look 
over the years that have come and gone in which 
you have accomplished nothing that has made your living worth 
while, would it not be better, and would you not the more 
willingly resign your body to the grave, if you could look back 
with a proud conscience on something done that has helped 
humanity in its struggles to rise from its low level into a promise 
of a noble civilization? 

NOW IS YOUR TIME. 

NOW IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY. 

Read the Lesson on “DECISION” in this book. Resolve not 
to possess a “ZERO MIND,” which means a mind of indif¬ 
ference, letting someone else do the things that you alone can do 
if your place in the Scale of Civilization is to be secured. There 
are three steps to “DECISION.”—1. Action. 2. Action. 
3. Action. 

FIRST STEP:—Buy a few sheets of legal cap writing paper 
of good quality; ruled; four pages to each sheet; each page about 
eight inches wide, and slightly more than twelve inches long; 
take ruler and pen and draw down the middle of each page a 
line so as to make two columns, each containing about thirty 
lines and holding room for sixty names to each page; or 240 
names to each sheet. Secure a fountain pen that will work. 
Invite some friend who writes or hand-prints a clear and neat 
style of letter, to inscribe the following FORM at the head of 
the first page of each sheet: 

WE HEREBY ENDORSE THE “NO-PARTY” MOVE¬ 
MENT AND PLEDGE OURSELVES TO SUPPORT ITS 
PLATFORM. 


317 






318 


Brain Tests 


SECOND STEP:—Show this book that contains the Platform 
to your friends first; either have copies made of the Platform, 
or get some printed; keep the paper neat and clean in an en¬ 
velope on which the names are to be written; see that the foun¬ 
tain pen responds eagerly; go about among your friends and 
secure their names to the Pledge of Support of the Platform; 
having these names to begin with, follow up the canvass among 
your acquaintances, and finally among the general public. While 
it is not necessary to have each local address, it may be a wise 
step to retain it; but there should be at the head of every list 
of pledgers the general address or residence of each group. If 
you wish, you may send a copy of your lists to Ralston Com¬ 
pany, Hopewell, New Jersey. But you should keep the original 
lists locked up for safety; and should make a copy of the same 
for exhibition to candidates for election in the districts where 
such pledgers live and vote. 

THIRD STEP:—Now to make the work effective, call together 
all the leading pledgers, or all of them if you can secure a hall 
for a meeting; and appoint a committee consisting of the most 
earnest and aggressive pledgers whose duty shall be to confer 
with all candidates whose election is to occur in the near future 
and who can be defeated by these pledgers unless they are given 
an absolute promise of support for the “NO-PARTY” MOVE¬ 
MENT. These candidates if honest will give their promise in 
writing and through the press; for, as some of the most promi¬ 
nent men in public life have just said in no uncertain terms, 
“To pledge support for this No-Party Movement is the highest 
honor any man can confer on his constituents, or have con¬ 
ferred on him; for it ushers in a new era of genuine patriotism.” 

But that in reality, in every nook and corner of the land, 
wherever the soul of humanity aspires to breathe the air of 
freedom, where men and women love the soil that was bought 
with the blood of honored sacrifice when other tyrants forged 
their chains about the necks of patriots, where the sun shines on 
the humble cottage and the proud mansion with equal favor, 
where Nature has but one voice when proclaiming the gospel 
of eternal Liberty and in that voice re-kindles in the hearts of 
men the flaming hope of civilization,—there shall be blazoned 
the inspired message garbed in the garments of a new truth, 
that we are to establish here a government of the people. 


319 


[Words and Suggestions 
CONCLUDING WORDS AND SUGGESTIONS 

FIRST:—“AN INVENTORY OF YOURSELF.”—What is 
your real worth? If merely living is all the value you possess, 
then the Inventory will include the market price of your body; 
which in average cases is somewhat as follows: 

1. A man has enough fat to make seven bars of soap. 

2. Enough iron for a medium sized nail. 

3. Enough sugar to fill a shaker. 

4. Enough lime to whitewash a chicken coop. 

5. Enough phosphorus to make 2200 match tips. 

6. Enough magnesium for one medical dose. 

7. Enough potassium to explode a toy cannon. 

8. Enough sulphur to rid a dog of fleas. 

9. Enough water for a small-sized bath. 

10. Enough salt to pickle a pound of pork. 

And a few grains of other ingredients. 

The commercial value at the highest market prices of these 
portions of his body would reach the total sum of ninety-eight 
cents. 

A man is worth: 

1. Exactly what these ingredients are worth; or 

2. Exactly what value he has added to the cause of humanity 
in his life on earth; and this value is denoted by the place he 
occupies in the Scale of Civilization. It is no excuse that a 
man has obtained a living for himself and his family; for then 
he is only paying back to the soil what was taken out of it; he 
is moving in a circle; ending where he began. God and Nature 
have surcharged life with the message of progress. Man is the 
chosen instrument. If he turns his back on this command, and 
lives only for his own selfish purposes, his mind is at ZERO, 
and his inventoried value is ninety-eight cents. 


SECOND : —“ACTION! ACTION! ACTION!”—Learn 
the difference between your brain and your mind. Cultivate 
the perfect health of your mind. Bring it to a state of crystal 
clearness. Acquire sound judgment in all matters. Rise to that 
height where you can discern all truth; even to the crest of the 
mountain top where you behold the truth of truths, the greatest 
of all laws, that Civilization waits on humanity to champion its 



320 


Brain Tests 


cause and to lift it out of the dregs of existence m which it lies 
helpless, pinioned to earth by its enemies. Learn to discover 
these enemies, who and what they are, and how to exterminate 
them. Then exterminate them. Be practical. Do real things. 
Make your mind clear enough to recognize the fact that the 
“ No-Party ” Movement is the first real thing to be put into 
action; and that when it wins its battle for Civilization it will 
sweep out of existence in one fell swoop the whole long train 
of evils and misfortunes that oppress the nation. The cancer be¬ 
ing removed, the body will heal. Finally, make the Platform of 
the 11 No-Party’’ Movement your daily and perpetual guide. 

THIRD:—“Educate the people/’—Every great step in the 
progress of the world has been inaugurated by the education of 
large numbers of men and women in the work to be done. 
Educate your friends, your neighbors, your acquaintances. Our 
part of the work consists in preparing this course of instruc¬ 
tion; while it is in a book at this time, it has not always been 
in printed form. Back of its preparation for a generation of 
years there has been a mountain of hard and intensive efforts 
to secure the thousands of facts and the cooperation of thou¬ 
sands of helpers from thousands of sources of information and 
advisory assistance, involving expenses that no one would be 
willing to incur unless with a deep conviction and belief in the 
urgent need of such a system as that which is now offered. 

You are hereby given free permission to have printed as many 
copies of the Platform of the “No-Party’ 7 Movement as you 
wish, so that they may be circulated far and wide, and serve as 
the speediest means of carrying on the campaign of popular 
education. The expense should be very light if this is done by 
your local printer. 

This book could be loaned by you, when you have finished 
its lessons, and by such circulation it should reach many persons 
in the course of time. But delay just now when the nation 
most needs protection from its slave-master, the politician, may 
cost you and the people vast sums of money in wasted public 
funds; so that taxes will be increased when, in fact, they should 
be lowered more than half what they are now. To avoid this 
delay we shall be pleased to cooperate with you by the method 
known as the educational campaign, which will solve this part of 
the problem. 


PUBLISHERS’ STATEMENT 

THE EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN 


EFERENCE HAS BEEN MADE on the pre¬ 
ceding page of this book to the educational 
j campaign as the most practical method of 
making known among the people the process 
whereby the greatest good can be accomplished 
in the adoption of swiftly moving events. 
There is no time to be lost. With taxes now more than double 
what they should be, and with a continued and uninterrupted 
flow of prosperity made impossible by the wild orgies of the 
politicians madly scrambling to buy their way into further 
terms of office through the most wasteful expenditure of the 
public funds whereby the already cruel burden of over-taxation 
will be still further increased, THERE IS NO TIME TO BE 
LOST! 

The publishers of this system of popular education have al¬ 
ready given their consent to the printing and circulating of that 
part of this book that contains the Platform of the “No-Party” 
Movement; and they release any copyright claims they own to 
that extent. 

MORE THAN THIS, if you or any of your friends will se¬ 
cure one hundred Pledgers to this Platform in the manner stated 
in the final portion of this volume, we will forward to said 
Pledgers one copy each of the present ten dollar work, at a rate 
FAR BELOW COST,—namely, one dollar per copy,—to show 
to them our interest in giving this Educational Campaign the 
greatest encouragement possible. This offer is not permanent, 
as we cannot make so great a sacrifice without limitation. The 
further conditions are these: 

At the dollar rate, the order must be for one hundred or more 
copies in one shipment to one address, with the cost of sending 
to be paid by the person ordering; and with the nearest express 
office stated plainly. If less than one hundred copies are or¬ 
dered, the lowest price will be two dollars per copy, and we will 
prepay cost of sending to any part of the world. If you can 
afford it, you should make presentation copies to everybody you 
know everywhere. 

Remit by money order, or by bank draft, to 

Ralston Company, 
Hopewell, New Jersey. 















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